Key Points

Karthik revealed the entrance where Jitesh was stopped by a guard was not the entrance to Lord’s but rather to the media center, where he himself had invited Jitesh.

"These are some issues with social media that a lot face . I invited Jitesh to the comm box , he had come , and I came and met him down and took him to the comm box and he met everyone there. Btw this is below the media center , not the entrance to the ground," posted Karthik.

This news came out on the same day when Farokh Dastoor, CEO of the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA), confirmed to IANS on Wednesday that they have issued an NOC to Jitesh, to join the Badora domestic team ahead of the 2025-26 season.

“Jitesh has enjoyed a close friendship with Krunal Pandya, his RCB teammate during the side’s first IPL win in June. With him not having played Ranji Trophy last season and Pandya aiming to make a Baroda team which can win a domestic title in the upcoming season, it all came together for Jitesh to leave Vidarbha,” said sources aware of the development to IANS.

In the last domestic season, Jitesh captained Vidarbha in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) competition and played under Karun Nair’s leadership in the Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT). A move to Baroda means Jitesh will be able to play both white ball and red ball formats, where he’s played only 18 first-class games since making his longer format debut in 2015/16.

For RCB in IPL 2025, Jitesh played key knocks as a finisher, including hitting an unbeaten 85 in a must-win against Lucknow Super Giants and helping RCB finish in the top two of the points table. He also served as RCB’s captain when Rajat Patidar suffered a finger injury towards the back end of the ca/ompetition.

- IANS