Jaiswal gets nod to open batting from Vaughan in T20 World Cup Super 8: 'Virat or Rohit, doesn't matter to me...'
Virat Kohli has scores of one, four and 0 thus far in the 2024 T20 World Cup
India's decision to open with their seniormost batters—captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli—raised a few eyebrows before the start of the tournament. While Rohit was expected to open, Kohli's promotion to the position and Rishabh Pant's elevation to No.3 meant that Yashasvi Jaiswal, who seemed to be India's first-choice T20 opener for much of last year, was dropped from the team.
Three matches into the tournament, the combination is yet to reap dividends, largely due to Kohli falling for scores of one, four and 0. All of India's matches were in New York where the conditions were generally unusually difficult for batters going by T20 standards and so Kohli could enjoy a reversal in form in the Super 8 matches which will be played in the Caribbean islands.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan, however, has said that he would have had Jaiswal opening the batting for India in the Super 8. Vaughan said that it won't really matter who among Kohli or Rohit bats at No.3 while Shivam Dube would sit out. “I love Yashasvi Jaiswal, I'd want him to be opening the batting,” he said on Cricbuzz. “Virat or Rohit at No.3, I'm not too bothered by which right-hander goes to No.3. Shivam Dube is at No.5 but in the Caribbean I'd have Rishabh Pant in there,” he said.
Jaiswal has been impressive in T20I and Test cricket, the two formats in which he has played thus far internationally. He has scored 502 runs as an opener in T20Is in 17 matches at a strike rate of 161.93 and average of 33.46 with one century and four half-centuries to his name. “Yashasvi is an incredible player. He is such a good batter, I would want him in,” said Vaughan.
‘Not having enough left-handers was a mistake India made in the past’
Vaughan said that India made the right call by trying to fill up their batting lineup with enough left-handers. “I like the fact that they have gone with left-handers. I thought not having enough left-handers was a mistake from India in the past so I can kind of understand that but I would want Jaiswal in my team,” he said.
Rohit has fared slightly better than Kohli, scoring an unbeaten half-century against Ireland in India's opening game. Pant at No.3 has arguably been India's best batter while Suryakumar Yadav ground out a half-century to lead India to victory against USA. It hence seems unlikely that India would make any big chances to their top order in the Super 8, which starts with a game against Afghanistan at the Kensington Oval on June 20.
Read more news like this on HindustanTimes.com