Jitesh Sharma moves to Baroda from Vidarbha ahead of upcoming domestic season

Royal Challengers Bengaluru's star wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma has officially transferred from Vidarbha to Baroda ahead of the upcoming 2025-26 domestic season. The 31-year-old is looking for a new start in red-ball cricket after limited opportunities with Vidarbha in recent years.

The decision to move to Baroda had reportedly been under consideration for some time, with Sharma's strong bond with Baroda captain Krunal Pandya, who was his teammate at RCB. The two shared a successful stint during RCB’s title-winning IPL 2025 campaign, where he came out as a dependable finisher and even captained the side in Rajat Patidar’s absence.

Despite being an important player in Vidarbha’s white-ball squads last season, Sharma failed to feature in the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy. With Akshay Wadkar donning the gloves and leading the side, Jitesh was sidelined on most occasions in red-ball cricket. His last first-class appearance came nearly 18 months ago. Since his debut in 2015-16, the right-handed batter has featured in just 18 first-class matches, scoring 600 runs at an average of 24.48 with four half-centuries.

Jitesh played key role in RCB's title-winning campaign

Baroda will be hoping for a change in fortune after a mixed 2024-25 season where they exited in the Ranji Trophy league stage and reached the SMAT semifinals and Vijay Hazare quarterfinals. Meanwhile, after an impressive season with Punjab Kings in 2023, he earned his India T20I debut at the Asian Games in October 2023 and has since played nine T20Is. In IPL 2025, he was one of RCB’s best performers, scoring an unbeaten 85 against Lucknow Super Giants in a must-win match, which helped the franchise finish in the top two.

Notably, Jitesh isn’t the only player leaving Vidarbha. Indian batter Karun Nair, who led the side in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and scored over 800 runs in the Ranji Trophy, is set to return to Karnataka for personal reasons. Meanwhile, another RCB player, Swapnil Singh, is set to move from Uttarakhand to Tripura. Though he didn’t play for RCB in IPL 2025, he had a decent domestic season in red-ball cricket and featured in the TNPL 2025.