Indian wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma literally had a ‘field’ day behind the stumps as South Africa folded for just 74, chasing 175. India won the first T20I and took a 1-0 lead, while South Africa were bowled out for their lowest ever score on a sluggish surface in Cuttack.
Jitesh Sharma, who retained his spot as the wicketkeeper in India’s T20I side in the opening game of the South Africa series, equalled the wicketkeeping record for the Men in Blue, held by MS Dhoni as he took four catches at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on Tuesday, December 9. Dhoni, who still holds the record for most wicketkeeping dismissals for India in an innings in T20Is (five), also has the most dismissals in an innings at home (four) and Jitesh Sharma equalled it on Tuesday.
Coincidentally, both have achieved the same feat at the same venue in Cuttack. Tristan Stubbs, David Miller, Donovan Ferreira and Keshav Maharaj were dismissed with Jitesh Sharma taking their catches behind the stumps, while all the Indian bowlers – Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, Axar Patel and Hardik Pandya ran riot.
Most wicketkeeping dismissals in an innings for India in T20Is
5 – MS Dhoni (vs ENG) – Bristol, 2018 (5 catches)
4 – MS Dhoni (vs AFG) – St Lucia, 2010 (4 catches)
4 – MS Dhoni (vs PAK) – Colombo RPS, 2012 (4 catches)
4 – MS Dhoni (vs SL) – Cuttack, 2017 (2 catches, 2 stumpings)
4 – Dinesh Karthik (vs ENG) – Southampton, 2022 (3 catches, 1 stumping)
4 – Jitesh Sharma (vs SA) – Cuttack, 2025 (4 catches)
It was a difficult pitch to start with as the Indian batters experienced. India were 17/2, 48/3 and 104/5 during their innings and if not for Hardik Pandya’s magical innings on his comeback, India would have been staring at a sub-par total. Pandya smashed an unbeaten 59 off just 28 balls, hitting six fours and four sixes and with some support from Shivam Dube and Jitesh Sharma at the end, took India’s score to 175, which eventually proved to be enough.
The concerns in the batting department continued, while the bowling continued to flex its muscles, and it will be interesting to see the approach with the willow in the coming games, when the caravan is set to shift to the winters of the north.