Despite getting overlooked in the shortest format of the game, Yashasvi Jaiswal has set his priorities straight. The Indian opener, who has taken to international cricket like a duck to water, has revealed his desire to play in a T20 World Cup once. While it is quite obvious for a youngster to have a yearning to play at a World Cup, the timing of Jaiswal’s statement is quite interesting.
The next T20 World Cup, which will be jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka, will begin in less than two months from now. However, despite all his potential and X-factor, Jaiswal isn’t part of the current Indian T20 squad. Jaiswal, who should’ve been the first name on the team sheet, has been overlooked by Indian selector Ajit Agarkar, head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Suryakumar Yadav. Instead of Jaiswal, the management has slotted in Shubman Gill, who is the vice-captain of the side.
However, this hasn’t stopped Jaiswal from wishing to play a part in a T20 World Cup. The soon-to-be-24-year-old will have multiple chances of having a shot at playing the premier biennial tournament. While speaking at the Agenda Aaj Tak, Jaiswal said, “My dream is to play the T20 World Cup, but I try to focus on my game and will wait for my time.” He even shared his wish to lead India as well, something that he has shared before as well.
Unlucky Yashasvi Jaiswal
The only way Jaiswal can play the T20 World Cup 2026 is if both Gill and Abhishek Sharma aren’t fit. This is because even if one of them gets unavailable, India is likely to slot in Sanju Samson as an opener. Samson was himself doing superbly and keeping Jaiswal out of the T20 picture in the 2024/25 season as he smashed three centuries in a span of 5 games.
But then, the Gambhir-led management decided to bring Gill in the T20 setup from the T20 Asia Cup 2025 onwards and paired him with in-form Abhishek. Even though Gill hasn’t scored a single fifty in 12 T20Is this year, he is most likely to be in India’s starting XI at the T20 World Cup 2026. Being the captain of India’s Test and ODI setup and the deputy to Suryakumar Yadav, it would take something disastrous to drop him.
Hence, Jaiswal’s chances of making it to the T20 World Cup squad next February are next to impossible. He isn’t even in the ongoing T20I squad for the South Africa series. However, unlike Gill, Jaiswal already has a T20 World Cup medal with him as he was part of India’s squad at the T20 WC in 2024. He didn’t get any game time since Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were the two designated openers.
In 23 T20Is, Jaiswal has accumulated 723 runs with an average of 36.15. Despite his impressive record, including a century and five fifties, his last appearance in the format was in July 2024.
