Veteran commentator Aakash Chopra has questioned Yashasvi Jaiswal’s non-selection in India’s squad for the upcoming T20I series against England as well. He also wondered whether it was not the right time for the youngster to be given a run in white-ball cricket as well. Notably, India will play against England in a five-match T20I series, with the first game taking place in Kolkata on January 22. While Jaiswal has been
ignored, Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma are the two openers selected for the series as well.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel ‘Aakash Chopra’, he said, “Yashasvi’s name is not there and I am thinking aloud. I am thinking whether Yashasvi’s time has not come in white-ball cricket. It’s been spoken about that his name might come in the Champions Trophy team. Firstly, his name might come for the three-match ODI series (vs England), which I feel it will. He will come in place of SKY (Suryakumar Yadav) if we compare the team with the (2023 ODI) World Cup,” he said.
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“However, you will not play him there as well. Shubman Gill will only open with Rohit (Sharma), which is right as well, because Shubman Gill hasn’t done anything wrong. Only three matches will be there and Shubman is a mighty player, so I feel he will score runs as well. So Yashasvi will remain on the bench,” Chopra observed.
In the same video, Aakash Chopra also stated that Yashasvi Jaiswal and Abhishek Sharma might have been in the race for the second opener’s slot as well.
“If you are saying you want to give him a break and a rest, he is a batter. So, in such a scenario, you could have kept Yashasvi here. There would have been a toss-up between Yashasvi Jaiswal and Abhishek Sharma. Abhishek Sharma hasn’t cemented his place as much as Sanju Samson. Both got seven chances. One (Samson) scored three centuries and he (Abhishek) played one good innings, but apart from that, it wasn’t that good. He couldn’t back up what he did in Zimbabwe. So Abhishek could have been kept in the team but Yashasvi could have got a chance to play,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
