As is always the case with Team India, choosing a playing XI seems to be a headache. First India vs South Africa T20I in Durban is no different, despite the top players not making it to the white-ball squad. Former India opener and expert Aakash Chopra feels that while Shubman Gill looks a certainty, it might be a difficult choice between Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad.
It is important to note that, in the series against Australia, where India won 4-1, it was Jaiswal and Gaikwad who started the innings and did decently well. But now, Gill is back in the mix, after being rested for that series, which increases India’s problem, in a good way. Speaking on his Youtube channel, Chopra said, “Shubman Gill is back, so I am assuming he will play. He should play the first match itself. If he plays, who will open with him? Both Ruturaj and Yashasvi are standing together and saying that they did well in the last series.”
“Ruturaj scored a century as well, and was the highest run-scorer, so he will say he should be played. However, Yashasvi is a left-hander, very attractive and aggressive, he will say he should be played. So that’s the first fight that, who should be played. Difficult question, I don’t have an answer.”
But then eventually Chopra went in with Jaiswal since he gives India the advantage of a left-right combination. Also, he went on to say that Ishan Kishan is unlikely to get a game. “Then when I go slightly down the order, it seems like there is no chance at all of Ishan Kishan playing because Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Rinku Singh, and Jitesh Sharma will play here. So Ishan Kishan has gone but he won’t play.”
India vs South Africa
India T20 Squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (C), Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (wk), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Ravindra Jadeja (VC), Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Deepak Chahar.
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