RCB's Jitesh Sharma to feature in Vidarbha Pro T20 League
What's the story
Royal Challengers Bengaluru's (RCB) star wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma will be participating in the inaugural Vidarbha Pro T20 League.
This comes after his stellar performance in IPL 2025, where he scored 261 runs at an average of 37.28 and a strike rate of 176.35 over 15 matches.
His brilliance was pivotal in powering RCB to their maiden title.
Jitesh will lead the NECO Master Blaster team in the upcoming tournament at Nagpur's Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium from June 5-15.
Tournament details
Schedule and format of the league
Jitesh's first match in the Vidarbha Pro T20 League will be against Bharat Rangers on June 6.
The tournament features five other teams apart from Master Blasters and Rangers: Nagpur Heroz, Nagpur Titans, Orange Tigers, and Pragariya Strikers.
The opening game will see Strikers led by Yash Kadam take on Titans under Vidarbha's 2024-25 Ranji Trophy-winning skipper Akshay Wadkar.
Missing players
Nair, Dubey on national duty
Notably, some big names from the Vidarbha setup will be missing in this franchise tournament.
Karun Nair and Harsh Dubey are currently on national duty in England and won't be a part of the league.
Nair has been selected for a five-match Test series against England while Dubey is representing India A squad.
DYK
Do you know?
As per Cricbuzz, Jitesh owns the highest score for a batter at Number 6 or lower in successful IPL run-chases.
He made an unbeaten 85 off just 33 balls against Lucknow Super Giants in an IPL 2025 game that helped RCB chase down 228, their highest successful run-chase in IPL history.
Jitesh went past MS Dhoni, who slammed a 34-ball 70* against RCB in Bengaluru in 2018.