IPL 2023: Jitesh Sharma Has No Fear of the Game, Says Brad Haddin After PBKS Loss Vs MI in Mohali!

By Rahul Gupta On May 5, 2023

Brad Haddin, who is an assistant coach for the Punjab Kings, has said that wicket-keeper hitter Jitesh Sharma has no fear of the game. Jitesh made 49 runs in 27 balls without being out, but that wasn’t enough to stop PBKS from losing by 6 wickets to Mumbai Indians at the PCA Stadium in Mohali.

Haddin said after the game that Jitesh is making good progress and that the PBKS camp wanted to move him up the line so he could face more balls. Jitesh got his best score ever in the IPL. He got 49 runs by hitting five fours and two sixes in 27 balls.

“Jitesh is growing in a good way. As the tournament went on, he got a lot of confidence, which showed in how we used him tonight [Wednesday]. “He played really well in the last games, but he only faced 10 balls, so tonight we wanted to move him up the order so he could face more balls,” Haddin said.

He went on to say that Jitesh doesn’t have any fear of the game and that he has the special ability to hit from the first ball. Jitesh’s performance in the middle order for PBKS has been a surprise, and he has the best strike rate of any bowler in the IPL 2023 after the first 10 balls.

“We’ve seen that once he’s on the field, he doesn’t care about the game. He’s doing a great job growing. He’s getting better at what he does. He is one of those guys who can go from the very first ball. I think it’s good for his growth to face more balls. I think there will be a lot more innings like this,” Haddin said.

The former Australia wicketkeeper-batsman praised Suryakumar Yadav’s performance in Mohali, saying it was great how he managed the middle of the game. Suryakumar got 66 runs off 31 balls. He hit 8 fours and 2 sixes.

“He hits in many places. Because both hitters were on the left and right, they helped each other out. Suryakumar did a great job of controlling the middle part of the game. He took away the game. We probably didn’t do what we needed to do, so he was able to break too many rules and get on a roll. Haddin said, “His innings were pretty great.”

After losing to MI, PBKS will turn its attention to Kolkata Knight Riders. On May 8, the two teams will play each other at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens.