Aakash Chopra finds Yashasvi Jaiswal’s exclusion from the India squad for the England T20I series a little perplexing. The BCCI announced the 15-member squad for the 5-match series on Saturday, January 11, with Mohammed Shami making a return to the side after a long absence.
Amongst the big absentees from the side was Jaiswal, who was India’s highest run-getter in the recently-concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. The southpaw scored 391 runs from 5 matches, with a hundred and 2 fifties. Jaiswal last played a T20I during the Sri Lanka tour in July 2024. Taking to X, Chopra said that Jaiswal would be in the ODI squad for the England series but may not get to play as Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill would be the preferred openers.
The former cricketer also expects the 23-year-old to be picked for the upcoming Champions Trophy in February, but feels by that time, he would have been away from the squad for close to 45 days. While Chopra admitted that Jaiswal was part of a long BGT tour, the former cricketer felt that young batter should be made to play as much as possible.
“Yashasvi’s non-selection for the T20i series is a little perplexing. He’ll be in the ODI squad but won’t get to play vs England. Rohit-Gill to open. Might be picked for CT too…but by the time the tournament starts, he wouldn’t have played any competitive cricket for 45 days. Long BGT alright…but he’s young. And he’s a batter. Play as much as possible, I’d say,” said Chopra on X.
