Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra has questioned Yashasvi Jaiswal’s omission from India’s Asia Cup squad. Jaiswal has been included in the stand-by players list along with Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Prasidh Krishna, and Washington Sundar.
Meanwhile, Jaiswal was the back-up opener for the T20 World Cup 2024. The left-hander scored 559 runs in 14 matches for Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2025 at an average of 43 and a strike rate of 159.71. Thus, his absence was surprising as he had been coming up with consistent performances.
“In the T20 World Cup you won, you had to take three openers. There was no other cricket happening at that time, and Yashasvi was the third opener. They said Shubman Gill was made vice-captain because he was the captain as soon as the T20 World Cup got over, and was the vice-captain when Suryakumar Yadav was made the captain, and Sanju Samson opened because Shubman wasn’t there,” Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.
“I get that, but going by the same token, Yashasvi Jaiswal was in the T20 World Cup team. So his number should have come first, but you didn’t keep him. If he is not getting a place, you must ask a question. Are we having different rules for different people?” he added.
The renowned commentator said Jaiswal is one batter who buys into the team’s philosophy and plays accordingly to the team’s demands.
“Yashasvi’s absence surprises you a little. If someone automatically marries into the team philosophy, that is Yashasvi Jaiswal. I am not saying Shubman cannot do that, but Shubman will have to try. If we compare the power play, Yashasvi is ahead. Yashasvi probably doesn’t consistently score as many runs as Shubman after the powerplay, but you have already prepared a long list of attacking batters for that,” he said.
The former Delhi cricketer said Jaiswal is known to play with an aggressive approach, and thus his absence is surprising.
“Every team comes and hits sixes, and keeps hitting till the end. They have a batter at No. 8. They do not care how many wickets they have lost, and India are also going in that direction. If someone was fitting into that, it was Yashasvi, but his name is not there in the team. This is the reality. It was slightly surprising for sure,” Chopra observed.
Jaiswal has amassed 723 runs in 23 T20I matches at an average of 36.15 and a strike rate of 164.32.
