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Jitesh Sharma has shared insights on his respectful bond with Virat Kohli during Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s IPL title run.
Virat Kohli and Jitesh Sharma at RCB’s post-title celebrations (Picture credit: AFP)
Star India wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma, who played a major role in Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s maiden title triumph in the Indian Premier League, has said that he has grown up respecting his seniors a lot and having seen ace batter Virat Kohli up close in the dressing room, he preferred to stay away from him and not enter his personal space.
Although they batted far apart in the lineup, Jitesh and Kohli collaborated on the field as members of the captaincy group.
Jitesh revealed that he tried to maintain his distance from Kohli because of his huge reputation and attempted to keep their conversations limited to cricket as much as possible.
“I come from a small town, where you give lots of respect to your seniors. You don’t intrude on their personal space. Mere liye unse baat karni hi badi baat hai. Mai jaanta hun ki Virat bhai ka stature, toh mai koshish karta tha ki kyu hi unke personal space mein jau, kyu pareshaan karu,” Jitesh said while speaking to the Times of India.
“I used to talk to him (Kohli) about cricket only. Out of respect, I maintained my distance. I only wanted to have a meaningful conversation with him,” Jitesh added.
Midway through IPL 2025, Kohli admitted that the wicketkeeper-batter is yet to come out of his shell.
“One guy who is really funny but has not opened up with me is Jitesh. I would really want to see that fun, raw side of him. Because I can see it in his eyes that he has got that mischief about him,” Kohli had said during an event.
In an RCB Podcast episode, Jitesh had credited the star batter for teaching him to calm his nerves and manage his energy.
Jitesh was the fourth-highest run-scorer for RCB, scoring 261 runs in 11 matches at an average of 37.28 and a strike rate of 176.35.
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