Yashasvi Jaiswal was left out of the Indian cricket team’s playing XI against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup 2024 Group A encounter at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York on Sunday, June 9.
The Rohit Sharma-led Team India played with an unchanged XI that defeated Ireland by eight wickets in their T20 World Cup 2024 opener at the same venue in New York.
After their opening encounter against Ireland, Yashasvi Jaiswal once again joined the likes of Sanju Samson, Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal on Team India’s bench in the ongoing T20 World Cup in the West Indies and the United States.
The 22-year-old opening batter also didn’t feature in India’s only T20 World Cup 2024 warm-up game against Bangladesh in New York.
Under captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid, India selected Sanju Samson as their opener in the warm-up game alongside Rohit Sharma after Virat Kohli was rested.
Since his international debut in the first Test against the West Indies in July 2023, Jaiswal has been in brilliant form across formats for the Indian cricket team.
Even in India’s last international commitment before the Indian T20 League, Jaiswal finished as the leading run-scorer against England in the five-match Test series.
Opening alongside Rohit, Jaiswal amassed 712 runs in five Tests at an average of 89, including two centuries and three fifties to his name.
Even in T20 international cricket, the southpaw has an impressive record for the Men in Blue in cricket’s shortest format.
Jaiswal has scored 502 runs in 17 T20Is at a strike rate of 161.93, while also maintaining an average of 33.46 since his debut against West Indies in August 2023.
He has registered one hundred and four half-centuries in his short T20I career.
So, why is Yashasvi Jaiswal not playing for the Indian cricket team at the T20 World Cup 2024.
Why Yashasvi Jaiswal is not playing for India at T20 World Cup 2024
The reason why Yashasvi Jaiswal is not playing at the T20 World Cup 2024 is because the Indian cricket team has opted to back Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli as their first-choice openers in the tournament.
Virat Kohli pipped Yashasvi Jaiswal to bag the opening slot alongside Rohit after his scintillating campaign for Team Bengaluru in the recently-concluded Indian T20 League.
Kohli finished as the leading run-scorer in the Indian T20 League 2024, having accumulated 741 runs in 15 matches at an average of 61.75 and a strike rate of 154.69. He slammed one century and five fifties in the tournament.
In comparison, Jaiswal had a mixed Indian T20 League 2024 for Team Rajasthan after he scored 435 runs in 16 games at an average of 31.07.
However, Jaiswal edged Shubman Gill as the back-up opener if Team India opted for a left-right combination.
Former India cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu has stated that Yashasvi Jaiswal should open the innings alongside Rohit, with Virat Kohli batting at number three.
“Ideally, the scenario should have been of the left-right combination; Yashasvi Jaiswal should have opened with Rohit Sharma and Virat to come at number 3 from my point of view,” Sidhu was quoted as saying to T20 World Cup 2024 broadcaster Star Sports.
Meanwhile, Jaiswal could only find a place in the Indian playing XI at the ongoing T20 World Cup if the team management drops out-of-form Shivam Dube against the United States on Wednesday.
Dube has made just three runs in two innings in the ongoing T20 World Cup and hasn’t taken any wickets either, raising question marks on his place in the playing XI.
Should the Indian team management decide to drop an out of form Dube, Jaiswal could open alongside Rohit while Virat would bat at No.3 in New York.
Photo credit: Alamy
