IPL 2026: Jitesh Sharma’s horror run continues - Ambati Rayudu raises major concern for RCB
Jitesh Sharma's IPL 2026 struggles continue, drawing criticism from Ambati Rayudu for technical flaws, especially against short balls. After a stellar 2025, his form has plummeted, with low scores and a struggling strike rate. Rayudu highlighted his inability to adapt, a concern given the rapid pace of IPL matches and limited practice time.
Jitesh Sharma’s difficult IPL 2026 season continued as the RCB wicketkeeper-batter once again failed to deliver, drawing criticism from former India cricketer Ambati Rayudu over his prolonged poor form and technical struggles. After emerging as one of RCB’s biggest positives in IPL 2025, Jitesh has endured a dramatic decline this season. Across his first seven innings of IPL 2026, he managed only 63 runs and has faced heavy criticism for both his low strike rate and inability to finish games.
The franchise had retained him as their first-choice wicketkeeper-batter after his impressive 2025 campaign, where he scored 261 runs at a strike rate of 176. 35. However, his numbers this season have dipped sharply, with his average falling to around 10.
40 after the opening phase of the tournament. Jitesh’s reputation against Lucknow Super Giants was largely built on his sensational knock during IPL 2025. On May 27, 2025, he smashed an unbeaten 85 off just 33 deliveries to help Royal Challengers Bengaluru chase down a daunting 228-run target.
The innings broke MS Dhoni’s record for the highest score by a No. 6 or lower batter in a successful IPL chase and played a major role in RCB finishing second on the points table. But this season, at the same venue and against the same opposition, the script changed completely.