Nagpur: Vidarbha stumper Jitesh Sharma and professional Karun Nair have decided to part ways with Vidarbha, local media reported. After playing a key role in RCB’s IPL triumph a month back, Jitesh Sharma is set to leave Vidarbha. Reports said that the big-hitting wicket keeper-batter, who justified his Rs 11 crore price tag with a string of stellar shows, will play for Baroda in the next domestic season.
According to reports, Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) on Friday received a request for a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from Jitesh. A player has to obtain a NOC from his home association for shifting base to a new team. Baroda Cricket Association (BCA) officials confirmed that Jitesh will be joining their team in the next season.
Gold Rate
15 july 2025
On Karun Nair, VCA said, “his contract was for one year and it is up to him whether he wishes to renew it or not.” Jitesh and Karun Nair have not made any official announcements yet. Jitesh was one of the star performers for RCB who won the Indian Premier League title for the first time in 18 years. He delivered some match-winning knocks, including in the summit clash.
According to reports, Jitesh will play in both red ball and white ball formats for the Baroda team. Similarly, professional Nair, who was an important cog in Vidarbha’s third Ranji title, has also decided to return to his home side, Karnataka. Nair is, at present, touring with the Indian team for the five-Test Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy in England. The news of Jitesh moving away from Vidarbha was doing rounds for quite some time. It was after the Ranji Trophy season, of which Jitesh was not part, that Jitesh started thinking of moving to greener pastures.
Ranji champions Vidarbha had finished runners-up in Vijay Hazare Trophy and had reached the quarter-final in Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy (SMAT) in the 2024-25 season. Jitesh had led Vidarbha in the SMAT and played under Nair in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Nair was the mainstay of Vidarbha’s last Ranji success scoring 863 runs and had hammered 799 runs in Vijay Hazare Trophy.
According to reports, Nair is now planning to return to Karnataka for personal and family reasons. Last season, pacer Rajneesh Gurbani, spinner Aditya Sarvate and batter Mohit Kale have parted ways with Vidarbha moving to Maharashtra, Kerala and Pondicherry teams, respectively. If Jitesh leaves Vidarbha, it will be a blow to Vidarbha Pro T20 League franchise Neco Master Blasters. He led the team to its maiden title a few days ago.
Sarvate to play for Chhattisgarh
Former Vidarbha all-rounder Aditya Sarwate, who played for Kerala last season, confirmed that he will move to Chhattisgarh for the upcoming season. The left-arm spinner and solid lower-order batter said that due to family commitments he wanted to move to a team based near Nagpur.
Sarwate’s allround performance had propelled Vidarbha to twin Ranji Trophy titles in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons. Last year, Sarwate was one of the standout performers for Kerala as they made it to their first Ranji Trophy final. The title clash, played at Nagpur, saw Vidarbha clinch their third Ranji Trophy on the basis of first innings lead. Sarwate had snapped 40 wickets in his first and only season for Kerala.
