India and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma opened up about spending time with RCB legend Virat Kohli in the dressing room during their IPL 2025 winning journey.
RCB ended their 18-year wait for an IPL title, and Jitesh and Kohli played a prominent role in that victory. Kohli made 657 runs in 15 games with eight fifties to his name. Jitesh Sharma, playing as a finisher, made 261 runs in 11 innings with one fifty and a strike rate of 176.35.
Jitesh Sharma opened up about not invading Virat Kohli’s personal space while sharing the RCB dressing room and said that he makes it a point not to disturb the legendary cricketer, and their conversations are mainly limited to cricket.
"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 (For me, just talking to him is a big deal. I know Virat Bhai's stature, so I would try not to intrude on his personal space or bother him unnecessarily," Jitesh Sharma told Times of India.
"I used to talk to him about cricket only. Out of respect, I maintained my distance. I only wanted to have a meaningful conversation with him," he added.
Jitesh also discussed how former Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik influenced his career after becoming a mentor and batting coach at RCB.
"People used to tell me what I lacked, but he worked on my strength and made me more confident about my game. That has made a huge difference. I felt it was my duty to give 100 percent because of the way he instilled that confidence in me. He is like an elder brother to me. I have found that elder brother very late in my life, but I am glad that I did. I follow his instructions without asking any questions," Jitesh said.
Jitesh Sharma’s best of 85* came in RCB’s final league game against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). LSG had posted 227/3 thanks to 118* by Rishabh Pant. Kohli’s 54 gave RCB a good start, but it was Jitesh’s 85* with eight fours and six sixes that took RCB to a 6-wicket win in 18.4 overs.
This enabled RCB to finish in the top two and qualify for Qualifier 1.
