India veteran Jitesh Sharma has left Vidarbha and joined Baroda for the upcoming 2025-26 domestic season.

The 31-year-old will be looking for a new start in red-ball cricket after limited opportunities with Vidarbha in recent years. The decision has reportedly been under consideration for some time, with his strong bond with Baroda captain Krunal Pandya who was his teammate at RCB.

They have played together during RCB’s title winning IPL 2025 campaign, where he came out as a dependable finisher and even captained the side in Rajat Patidar’s absence.

Despite being a key player in Vidarbha’s white-ball squads last season, he failed to feature in the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy.

With Akshay Wadkar donning the gloves and leading the side, Jitesh was sidelined for most of the games.

Since his debut in 2015-16, the right handed batter has featured in just 18 first class matches, scoring 600 runs at an average of 24.48 with four half centuries.

Baroda will be hoping for a change in fortune after a 2024-25 season where they exited in the Ranji Trophy league stage and reached the SMAT semifinals and Vijay Hazare quarter finals.

After an impressive season with Punjab Kings in 2023, Jitesh Sharma earned his India T20I debut at the Asia Games in October 2023 and has since played nine T20Is.

In IPL 2025, he was one of RCB’s best performers, scoring an unbeaten 85 against Lucknow Super Giants in a must win match, which helped the franchise finish in the top two.

Meanwhile Karun Nair led the side in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and scored over 800 runs in the Ranji Trophy, and is set to return for personal reasons.

On the other hand, Swapnil Singh is set to move from Uttarakhand to Tripura. Despite not playing for RCB in IPL 2025, he had a decent domestic season in red-ball cricket and featured in the TNPL 2025.