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Harleen Deol and Jitesh Sharma share a light-hearted moment in Mullanpur before India’s T20I against South Africa, capturing fans’ attention.
Harleen Deol and Jitesh Sharma ahead of the 2nd India vs South Africa T20I (Picture credit: Screengrab from X)
A temporary interaction between Indian women’s cricket team player Harleen Deol and Jitesh Sharma caught the people’s attention on Thursday, December 11. Jitesh and Deol met ahead of Men in Blue’s second T20I of the series against South Africa in Mullanpur, with the wicketkeeper-batter touching the feet of the World Cup-winning star.
A video on social media captured the moment as Deol saw Jitesh from a distance and funnily told him to the touch her feet in respect and salutation. “Paer pado, paer pado (touch the feet),” she was seen telling Jitesh with a gesture to bow all the way down to her feet, before the India and Royal Challengers Bengaluru player obliged.
The duo then had a temporary chat and bid one another goodbye. Jitesh then continued his pre-match training routine. Watch the video here:
Deol had been invited for the revealing of the Harmanpreet Kaur stand in honour of her 2025 World Cup-winning skipper on the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur, Recent Chandigarh.
The Punjab Cricket Association authorities and the state’s chief minister, Bhagwant Mann, were present for the formal opening of the stand, together with a stand named after Sixer King Yuvraj Singh.
Deol, who has represented India across 37 One-Day Internationals and 26 T20Is, was a component of India’s landmark victory on the 2025 ICC World Cup. She played seven matches of her team’s ultimately successful campaign and struck 169 runs in her five innings.
The 27-year-old also plays for Gujarat Giants within the Women’s Premier League.
Meanwhile, Jitesh continued his impressive comeback to India’s T20I side within the second match of the continuing series versus the Proteas, executing a superb run-out of a well-set Quinton de Kock and playing a fighting cameo of 27 off 17 deliveries with the bat.
He has now played 14 T20Is for India with a strike rate of 151.41.
A chosen powerhitter, Jitesh pipped fan favourite Sanju Samson to the spot as India’s preferred wicketkeeper-batter. He will probably be eyeing consistent performances to attempt to seal his place within the team for the 2026 ICC T20 World Cup, to be held in February and March.
Click here so as to add News18 as your selected news source on Google. December 13, 2025, 00:06 IST
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