Former England batter Kevin Pietersen feels that the Indian cricket team has already found their replacement for the injured Rishabh Pant. India’s talented keeper-batter Pant is currently out of action for an indefinite period of time as he is recovering from multiple injuries that he suffered during a nasty car accident. His absence has created a big void in Team India in all formats of the game.
Kevin Pietersen Named Rishabh Pant’s Replacement In Team India
As India is looking into an important year coming up, which will see them aiming to end their decade-long ICC trophy drought with the World Test Championship (WTC) final and the Cricket World Cup on home soil, the team is struggling to find a replacement for Pant.
Pietersen in his column at Betway has backed the PBKS wicket-keeper batter Jitesh as he thinks he is a special talent and India should give him a chance in case Pant is expected to be out for long.
Yes, ignoring the likes of Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson, Pietersen has backed Jitesh Sharma. ietersen was impressed with Jitesh’ effort in PBKS’ 13-run win vs. Mumbai Indians, where he played a crucial knock of 25 runs in just 7 balls. He wrote:
“India has their Rishabh Pant replacement. Jitesh Sharma, the wicketkeeper from Punjab Kings, is also something special. I think he could be the guy who takes over from Pant for India if Rishabh Pant is out for a while longer. His 25 off seven balls, including four sixes, against Mumbai on Saturday was match-winning,”
Jitesh proved himself in the 2022 campaign, his debut IPL season, by taking the finisher’s role for PBKS, scoring 234 runs in 12 games at an outstanding strike rate of 163.64. As a result of Samson’s injury, Jitesh was called up to the Indian T20I team for the series against Sri Lanka in January, although he did not play.
