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The 23-year-old Rajasthan Royals star is a regular member of India’s Test and T20I teams but is yet to make his 50-over debut for Men in Blue.
Sunil Gavaskar wants Yashasvi Jaiswal to open for India in Champions Trophy 2025. (Picture Credit: AFP, PTI)
Former India captain and legendary batter Sunil Gavaskar wants Rajasthan Royals batter Yashasvi Jaiswal to open for India in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. Jaiswal, who finished as India’s leading run scorer in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, is yet to make his ODI debut for India. But despite that, Gavaskar has preferred him over Shubman Gill as Rohit Sharma’s opening partner in the eight-team ICC tournament, which is set to start on February 19.
According to Gavaskar, he wants Jaiswal at the top mainly because he is a left-handed batter and can form a left-right batting combination with Rohit.
“Who wants to be an Indian selector? For me, the left-handed Yashasvi Jaiswal because he brings that left-handedness. One of the biggest plusses or minuses, depending on which way you look at it, is the fact that there will be white balls,” said Gavaskar on Star Sports.
“So what is a great delivery for a right-hander becomes a wide down the leg side for a left-hander, which means an extra run and an extra ball. So that left and right-hand combination, even in the middle, with Rishabh Pant around, all these things will make a big difference,” he added.
Jaiswal, who made his international debut for India in July 2023, was preferred over Gill in India’s T20 World Cup 2024 squad as well, but he didn’t get a chance to play many matches for the Rohit Sharma-led side in the 20-team tournament, which was hosted by the West Indies and the United States of America.
After being ignored for a place in India’s T20I squad for the five-match series at home against England, Jaiswal is all set to earn his maiden India ODI call-up. Jaiswal has played 32 List A matches so far and has 1511 runs to his name, which he has scored at an average of 53.96.
On the other hand, Gill has played 47 ODIs for India so far since making his international debut in 2019, and with the help of one double century, five centuries, and 13 fifties, he has scored 2328 runs (average 58.20).
