The writing was on the wall for Yashasvi Jaiswal. Once he wasn’t given a go in the India vs Bangladesh warm-up match, it was always going to be tough for him to find a place in Team India’s starting XI. The southpaw, who wasn’t in form in IPL 2024, was neglected by the management as in-form Virat Kohli got the nod as Rohit Sharma’s partner in the IND vs IRE match.
Why Yashasvi Jaiswal was dropped?
From afar, one would think that Kohli was the main reason why Jaiswal was excluded. Dropping the southpaw has actually fixed a lot of problems for Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid. If Jaiswal were to open, each batter, starting with Kohli, would have to bat one place down the order.
This would mean that India might have to drop Shivam Dube or one of their other all-rounders to accommodate him. Before the match, Rohit Sharma clearly expressed his vision of playing four all-rounders at the Nassau Country International Cricket Stadium. “We’re playing four seamers, including Hardik (Pandya), two spinning all-rounders in Axar (Patel) and (Ravindra) Jadeja,” he said after winning the toss.
Jaiswal’s inclusion wouldn’t help India field a team with multiple batting or bowling options. Although his intent would be missed in the powerplay, his inclusion would cause an imbalance that could weaken India in both departments, batting and bowling.
India Playing XI vs Ireland
Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube. Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj.
