The Royal Challengers Bengaluru wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma has attracted a significant amount of criticism for his batting form in this season. He stated that he is trying to put focus on how he can contribute to the side rather than worrying about his batting form. He was one of the most prominent batters for RCB in their title-winning run with some match-winning knocks. Jitesh Sharma hasn’t been able to quite find his touch in this season even though he has been trying really hard every game.

“Some people see the glass half empty, some see it half full. Similarly, I understand that I’m not scoring runs right now, but I focus on how much effort I can put into my keeping, how much feedback I can give the team or how much I can help the captain,” said Jitesh Sharma on his IPL 2026 campaign. His wicket-keeping has been top-notch as always with some excellent catches but it is his batting that has constantly failed throughout the season.

Jitesh Sharma remains focused on team contribution as RCB enter the crucial business end of IPL 2026

Jitesh Sharma was the holding factor in RCB’s batting unit in the previous season as even if wickets are lost, they would always find a way back with the help of their wicketkeeper. His knock against Lucknow Super Giants as skipper to cement RCB’s spot in the top 2 was undoubtedly one of his best knocks. Under the mentorship of Dinesh Karthik, he was able to rediscover his batting by utilizing all the areas of the wagon wheel and playing according to the merit of the ball. Unfortunately, RCB hasn’t found the same Jitesh Sharma in this edition of the IPL.

There haven't been a lot of batting collapses of RCB in the first half of the IPL as their batting depth wasn’t required in most of the matches. But every time an opportunity was presented to Jitesh Sharma, he didn’t utilize it. He played his best of the season against Lucknow Super Giants at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, but he couldn’t carry his momentum forward. Against the Mumbai Indians, he decided to take some time and scored nothing of the first over he faced. When he decided to accelerate he scored a couple of good-looking sixes but once again failed to convert his start.

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru are at the business end of the season and they would love to have every player in that batting unit firing. They cannot expect their top-order to do the job all the time as it was evident in the last two matches. Having done well so far in their charge for title defence, Jitesh Sharma will be confident that he can turn around his fortunes in this season and score some valuable runs for his side.