sports desk45 minutes ago
- copy link
India released the squad of 15 players for the T-20 World Cup. The selection committee surprised everyone and dropped vice-captain Shubman Gill from the ICC tournament. Wicketkeeper Sanju Samson will now be seen opening in his place, but Yashasvi Jaiswal did not get a chance as a backup opener.
In place of Yashasvi, wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan, who scored the most runs in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T-20 Trophy, got the place. Ishaan also made Jharkhand the champion under his captaincy by scoring more than 500 runs. Wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma also did not get a place due to his inclusion. Rinku Singh got a chance there.
Let us investigate the reasons behind Yashasvi’s exclusion from the story…
Why was Yashasvi’s claim strong?
Yashasvi Jaiswal made his T20 debut for India in August 2023. In the second match, he scored 84 runs against West Indies. Then he scored a century in his sixth match. He got consecutive opportunities against Australia, South Africa, Zimbabwe and South Africa. He also hit 4 fifties in these.
After playing consecutive T-20 series for India, he was included in the 2024 World Cup. However, due to Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, he neither got a chance to open nor got a place in the playing-11. Both the senior players retired after winning the World Cup. In such a situation, it was expected that Yashasvi would become a permanent member of the T20 team, but in the last 18 months he could play only 3 T20s.
Performed in IPL and T-20
Yashasvi Jaiswal played his last T20 for India on 30 July 2024. Then during the series in Sri Lanka, he scored 80 runs in all three matches while opening with Shubman Gill. While being out of Team India, he performed consistently in IPL and Syed Mushtaq Ali T-20 Trophy (SMAT).
Yashasvi scored more than 1500 runs in the last 3 seasons of IPL. During this period he scored 2 centuries and his strike rate was more than 160. Not only this, he also scored a century in just 49 balls against Haryana in the recently concluded SMAT. In such a situation, his claim as an opener in the T-20 team was strong.
Gill’s experiment failed, yet why is there no place?
After the 2024 T20 World Cup, Shubman Gill was made the vice-captain of India’s T20 team. In 2025, he was also given the permanent captaincy of the Test and ODI team. The team management wanted to establish Gill in all three formats. However, he did not play a single T20 match in the 13 months from August 2024 to August 2025.
In the absence of Gill and Yashasvi, Sanju Samson opened with Abhishek Sharma. Samson scored 3 centuries and Abhishek scored 2 centuries. Despite being kept out of the T-20 team for a long time, the management included Gill in the team for the Asia Cup. Chief selector Ajit Agarkar said that Shubman and Yashasvi were busy playing other formats, hence Samson was opening.
The Chief Selector had definitely protected Yashasvi, but did not give him a chance in the Asia Cup team. Abhishek snatched away Yashasvi’s place. On the other hand, Vice Captain Gill played 15 T-20 games in 4 months, but could not score a fifty in even one. During this period his strike rate remained less than 138.
Gill got injured in the last T20 of the South Africa series, in his place wicketkeeper Samson got the chance to open again. He scored 37 runs at a strike rate of 168. The next day the World Cup team was announced, Gill was dropped and Samson got the place as opener.
Rinku-Ishaan get a chance
Is Yashasvi worse than these?
Wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan was included in the World Cup team as a backup opener. Rinku Singh got the place at the finisher position by ousting wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma. Agarkar said that the management only needs a wicketkeeper for the opening position. That’s why Ishaan got a chance with Samson.
On Jitesh, Agarkar said that 2 wicketkeepers are enough in the team. Rinku’s claim for the finisher position is stronger than Jitesh, hence she was given priority. That means Abhishek and Samson will be seen opening in the World Cup. Whereas Ishaan is a part of the team as backup wicketkeeper and backup opener. If Yashasvi had done wicketkeeping along with batting, he would definitely have got a chance in the team.
According to the selectors, even if Ishan did not perform well in SMAT, the team could have chosen wicketkeeper like Rishabh Pant or KL Rahul as backup. Who contribute to the top order. Whereas Rinku could be selected only because of her finishing skills. Jitesh also did not do anything bad, but due to team combination he had to be dropped.
The biggest reason for ousting Yashasvi?
Abhishek Sharma. When Yashasvi played his last T20 in July 2024, Abhishek was not able to cement his place. During Yashasvi’s stay out of the team, Abhishek scored a century against England and also scored 6 fifties in the remaining matches. He was also chosen Player of the Series in the Asia Cup, which included an important fifty against Pakistan.
Abhishek captured one of the openers’ positions. His strike rate of 188 plus and ability to hit big shots made him a permanent member of the playing-11. Along with this, he also does left arm spin bowling. Yashasvi became a part of the squad only when Abhishek performed poorly. However, this did not happen and Yashasvi could not even make a place in the team.
Will Yashasvi never get a chance?
The team management dropped vice-captain Shubman Gill due to poor form. Yashasvi will not be able to play the World Cup, but after that he may definitely get a chance. Team captain Suryakumar Yadav is shining in leadership, but his batting has flopped badly.
If Surya cannot regain his form even in the World Cup, then after the tournament, he can be dropped and Yashasvi Jaiswal can be given a chance in the team. In that condition, Abhishek and Yashasvi will open, while Samson can bat at number 3. Surya is 35 years old and considering his poor form, the next ICC tournament may also prove to be the last T20 World Cup of his career.
There is no fix even in ODI, we only play test.
23-year-old Yashasvi also made his Test debut in 2023. He has cemented his place in red ball cricket, but could not establish himself in the T-20 and ODI teams. Abhishek Sharma snatched his place in T-20, whereas in ODI he could debut only this year. However, he will get a chance in the 50 over format only when number-1 ODI batsman Rohit Sharma retires. Which seems difficult to happen for the next 2 years.
Source link
[ad_3]
