Wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma will turn out for Baroda next summer, bringing a decade-long stint with Vidarbha to a close. The move has been on the cards for weeks and was rubber-stamped on Tuesday, giving Baroda a proven white-ball finisher and, they hope, a long-term answer behind the stumps in four-day cricket.
Sharma, 31, hardly figured in last season’s Ranji Trophy. Skipper Akshay Wadkar kept the gloves and the spot, leaving Sharma to carry drinks and focus on limited-overs duties. “You only grow by playing,” he said recently during a podcast appearance. “If that chance isn’t coming at home, you have to look elsewhere.”
Baroda sounded him out soon after the IPL, helped by captain Krunal Pandya, a close friend and Royal Challengers Bengaluru team-mate. Pandya had a simple pitch, according to those in the room: “Come here, bat with freedom, and make the red ball your friend again.”
Sharma’s first-class numbers – 18 matches, average 24.48, four fifties – do not leap off the page. His last red-ball outing was in January 2024. Yet his stock in T20 cricket keeps rising. After breaking through at Punjab Kings in 2023 and winning a T20I cap at the Asian Games, he became a central figure in RCB’s maiden IPL title run this year, smashing an unbeaten 85 in a must-win chase against Lucknow. He also deputised for injured skipper Rajat Patidar and was praised by coach Andy Flower for being “calm without going quiet”.
Baroda see an opening in the middle order and, perhaps more importantly, a chance to groom a second leader in the dressing-room. “We’ve lacked experience in clutch moments,” a senior Baroda official admitted. “Jitesh has lived those moments in the IPL.”
Swapnil Singh heads east
Sharma’s RCB colleague Swapnil Singh is also on the move, shifting from Uttarakhand to Tripura on a one-year deal. The left-arm spinner picked up 18 wickets in five Ranji games last season but went wicketless in the IPL, largely because he never left the bench. Tripura, rebuilding under former India A coach Sitanshu Kotak, sounded him out during the Tamil Nadu Premier League, where he managed three wickets and 85 runs for Chepauk Super Gillies.
“I still feel I’ve got a lot of overs left in me,” Swapnil said after signing the paperwork on Monday. “Tripura offered a defined role – bowl with the new ball, mentor the kids, and bat at six or seven. That clarity matters.”
What next?
Both transfers will be formally processed when the BCCI’s inter-state window reopens later this month. Neither Vidarbha nor Uttarakhand are expected to object. In fact, a Vidarbha selector summed up the situation with a shrug: “He wasn’t playing for us, so good luck to him.”
Sharma is expected to join Baroda’s pre-season camp in late August. Swapnil will link up with Tripura in September once the monsoon eases in Agartala.
