India Cricket Team star Yashasvi Jaiswal had a stellar 2024 Calendar Year. And for that, he is going to be rewarded with a spot in the ICC Champions Trophy squad. The only downside, he is going to be a backup opener for the team. With the young southpaw, India has three openers in the fray and the 23-year-old is at the bottom of the pecking order.
Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill are tipped as the two openers for the Men in Blue. And this means that Yashasvi Jaiswal will be slotted into the team as a backup player. It is highly unlikely that the aggressive southpaw will be a traveling reserve in the team. If needed, India can feature all three openers, in such a case Gill will have to drop in at number 3, but that is match and condition-specific.
No ODI Debut yet for Jaiswal
Yashasvi Jaiswal has predominantly played red-ball cricket for India. He has already played 19 Test matches for the India Cricket Team having made his debut back in 2023 against West Indies. On the other hand in T20Is, he has played 23 games, making his debut against the Windies back in the tour in 2023.
Since then Jaiswal has been a mainstay in the Team in both formats. But that hasn’t been the case in the ODIs. He was not a part of the ODI World Cup 2023. And post the World Cup, India hasn’t played many ODIs, meaning the young southpaw is yet to get his ODI debut.
But the upcoming IND vs ENG ODI series can be a good opportunity for him to earn his maiden call-up. However, there are reports claiming that Jaiswal will also be a backup opener in the three-match series against the Three Lions.
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Why Yashasvi Jaiswal shouldn’t open in ICC Champions Trophy?
This goes against the popular belief that a right-left-handed combination works the best. But that is not essentially the case with India. It would be extremely unwise to hand Jaiswal a spot as an opener in the Playing XI directly. While he has shown great temperament and composure, an ICC event is a different gravy.
Handing a debut directly in the ICC Champions Trophy can be a huge gamble for India. And given India’s decisions in the recently concluded Border Gavaskar Trophy highly questionable, it is unwise. On the other hand, the combination of Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill in ODIs has been very good.
It was also evident how the duo bonded and stitched some important partnerships in the ODI World Cup 2023. With India planning to bag another ICC event, there is no need for extreme experimentation in the team combination. Yashasvi is a vital asset for the team and will be even greater in the future. But currently, it is time for the more experienced ones to showcase their worth.
Yashasvi Jaiswal Stats in 2024
| Format | Mat | Runs | HS | Avg | SR | 100s | 50s | 4s | 6s |
| Test | 15 | 1478 | 214* | 54.74 | 69.35 | 3 | 9 | 168 | 36 |
| T20I | 8 | 293 | 93* | 41.85 | 172.35 | 0 | 2 | 32 | 16 |
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