There are countries who will happily slot in Yashasvi Jaiswal in their first XI irrespective of the format. The talent is immense; the ceiling is quite high. But for India, he regularly plays just one format, i.e., Test cricket. This is despite his game being ultra-aggressive, seemingly tailor-made for white-ball cricket. Still, he is nowhere near India’s T20I side and falls below Rohit Sharma and captain Shubman Gill in the pecking order in 50-over cricket.
That’s why when Jaiswal got a lucky break in the second one-day international against Afghanistan, he should’ve made that count. India were forced to bench Nitish Kumar Reddy after the all-rounder had some issues with his quad. It gave a clear cut chance to Jaiswal, who slotted in as an opener alongside Rohit. With an impressive performance, he could’ve easily put Hitman under pressure. But that couldn’t happen and Jaiswal fell for just four runs inside two overs.
IND vs AFG: Jaiswal squanders lucky break
Yashasvi Jaiswal’s dismissal was an example of a bowler setting up a batter with almost identical deliveries. Just one ball earlier, Saleem Safi had offered width outside off and Jaiswal punished him with a fierce cut through backward point for four.
Safi, however, didn’t change his plan. Instead, he doubled down. The next ball was again short and wide, tempting Jaiswal into playing the same shot. The difference was very minimal as there wasn’t quite as much room on offer, and Afghanistan had a fielder waiting in the ring. Jaiswal went hard at the cut once more, looking to cash in on the width.
In doing so, he failed to keep the ball down and couldn’t get enough elevation to clear the backward point. The ball was a tad bit closer to him. Making his comeback in the side, Nangeyalia Kharoti still had work to do, juggling the catch before completing it.
Jaiswal still behind India’s strongest ODI XI
With no Virat Kohli for the Afghanistan ODIs and Reddy missing out due to a niggle, Jaiswal got an opportunity to bat. In fact, he wasn’t selected in the ODIs initially and was only added as a replacement player for Kohli. This says a lot about his positioning in the ODI setup.
The BCCI is backing Rohit Sharma to remain in form and fit till the 2027 ODI World Cup. He is proving himself series by series as well, having scored the second-most runs in the format for India since the 2023 ODI World Cup. He was so close to winning the ultimate prize in 2023 when Travis Head’s hundred took everything away from the Men in Blue.
Yet to win an ODI World Cup, Rohit Sharma has been working on his fitness to keep himself ready for the marquee tournament that will be played in South Africa in October. He has been scoring runs as well and is currently the world’s number-four-ranked ODI batter. Only last year, he made 650 runs at a perfect average and strike rate combination of 50 and 100. So clearly, Jaiswal needs to wait.
Most ODI runs for India since 2023 ODI World Cup
| Player | Inns | Runs | HS | Avg | SR | 100s/50s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virat Kohli | 19 | 949 | 135 | 59.31 | 97.43 | 4/5 |
| Rohit Sharma | 22 | 932 | 121* | 44.38 | 104.36 | 2/6 |
| Shubman Gill | 19 | 808 | 112 | 50.50 | 91.40 | 2/5 |
| Shreyas Iyer | 18 | 658 | 79 | 36.55 | 90.50 | 0/6 |
| KL Rahul | 19 | 656 | 112* | 54.66 | 105.46 | 1/3 |
| Axar Patel | 15 | 377 | 52 | 29.00 | 81.60 | 0/1 |
| Yashasvi Jaiswal | 5 | 175 | 116* | 43.75 | 84.95 | 1/0 |
