India wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma opened up about his second World Cup snub, saying that although he was sad, it allowed him to spend the final days with his late father.
When India’s World Cup squad was announced, the omission of two players caught many eyeballs – Shubman Gill and Jitesh Sharma. While the former was brought back into the T20I team ahead of the Asia Cup, the latter had become the team’s first-choice wicketkeeper and played more matches than Sanju Samson in the six months leading up to the World Cup.
“When I heard the news, I was a little disappointed. I am also a human, so I did feel sad initially. But my family and friends supported me a lot and that sad phase became short. My father fell ill and passed away on February 1, and I was with him for seven days,” Jitesh said.
In 2024, Jitesh was India’s first-choice wicketkeeper-batter in T20Is before a poor IPL campaign forced the selectors to go with a fit-again Rishabh Pant.
Jitesh has no regrets about missing another World Cup.
“Later I realised my dad needed me more than the World Cup. After that, I have no regrets,” he emphasised. “I am not angry or anything. I am grateful to God that I could be with him and take care of him in his final days.”
The Vidarbha-based cricketer was happy to see the dream of the coach, captain and the team being fulfilled.
“I enjoyed watching the World Cup from home, which is a very different and more stressful feeling than playing. I’m really happy for the boys, they fulfilled the vision of the coach, captain and the team since the Asia Cup. They fulfilled their promise. They really worked hard towards this goal,” he said.
With IPL 2026 around the corner, Jitesh has already started his preparations as RCB look to defend their title.
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