‘I am going to fill his shoes’ – RCB star Jitesh Sharma makes bold statement about replacing Dinesh Karthik ahead of IPL 2025 season

31-year-old cricket star Jitesh Sharma is eagerly looking forward to playing for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the coming season. Jitesh was picked for INR 11 crores by RCB during the IPL 2025 auctions that were held last November in Jeddah. It is expected that Jitesh will be the wicketkeeper for RCB during the coming season. 

Sportstar spoke to Jitesh Sharma recently, where he made a bold claim and said, “I am looking forward to working with DK Bhai. He played a similar role for RCB, and I am going to fill in his shoes. People are expecting me to take Virat Kohli’s name, but I am taking DK bhai’s name because he is someone who can teach me more.” 

Dinesh Karthik is set to play a huge role in the backroom staff for RCB during the upcoming IPL 2025 season. The 39-year-old hung up his boots after Bengaluru were knocked out of the tournament in the playoff stages. Karthik is currently playing for Paarl Royals in the SA20 tournament. 

Jitesh Sharma hopes to repay RCB for showing trust 

31-year-old Jitesh Sharma was first brought by Mumbai Indians but didn’t get to make his IPL debut. After his move to the Punjab Kings in 2022, Jitesh showed the world what he was capable of with the bat. The Vidarbha-based cricketer made his international debut in 2023 and has since gone on to play nine T20I matches. RCB brought the Vidarbha star for a massive sum of INR 11 crores during the IPL 2025 auctions. 

Jitesh, during his chat with Sportstar, said, “I wasn’t expecting so much money. I was expecting around Rs. 6 to 8 crore. But RCB showed so much belief in me, and I am very grateful for this opportunity. More than pressure, this is a challenge for me, and I feel I am worthy of it. It feels good that they attached such a huge price tag on me when they increased my value against the Right to Match option. It gives me more confidence rather than pressure. It is now my turn to give it back to the team.”

When asked about playing at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, the 31-year-old said, “All the current and former RCB players have been telling me that I will love batting there. They said that even if you mistime the ball, it will go for a six. I told them I don’t want to mistime anything; I want to time everything. I am going to focus more on winning matches for RCB rather than scoring runs.”