Jaiswal will play ODI cricket for the first time after debutImage Credit source: Surjeet Yadav/MB Media/Getty Images
The sight that Indian cricket fans wanted to see for the last several months is soon going to appear before their eyes. Yashasvi, who has shown his batting prowess in Test cricket, was waiting for his turn in the ODI format and now this wait is over. Jaiswal will open for Team India in the ODI series against South Africa. After the announcement of the Indian team for this series, it became clear that the team’s regular opener and captain Shubman Gill will not be a part of this series.
Jaiswal will be seen for the first time after debut
On Sunday 23 November, BCCI announced the Indian squad for the three-match ODI series. There was a lot of curiosity about this squad because captain Gill and vice-captain Shreyas Iyer were out of the series due to injury. In such a situation, it had to be seen who would get the captaincy and who would replace these two star batsmen in the playing-11. Hardly anyone would have doubted that Jaiswal would get this responsibility regarding the opening.
Jaiswal has played only one ODI match so far, which came against England earlier this year and he scored 15 runs. But the biggest question is who will be fielded at number four in place of Iyer and there are 3 contenders for this in the squad. The first name in this is that of Rituraj Gaikwad, who is part of the team as a backup opener, but considering his recent form, it would not be surprising if he is dropped at number four. But the real competition is between Rishabh Pant and Tilak Verma.
Pant has the upper hand on Tilak Verma?
Both these left-handed batsmen are returning to this team after several months. Looking at his experience and reputation, Pant seems to have the upper hand because he can also play the role of wicketkeeper, which will reduce the burden on captain Rahul. However, Pant has not played any ODI match since August 2024 and his last big innings in this format came against England in July 2022, in which he scored a century. Also, he has not been able to leave much impact in Limited Overs International.
So can Tilak Verma get a chance? Tilak had recently played an important role in Team India winning the Asia Cup title, but since then his bat has not done much. He could not do anything special in the T20 series on Australia tour, whereas he could score only 79 runs in 3 innings of the ODI series against South Africa A. In such a situation, this selection will be the most interesting. But it seems that at present Pant may get a chance here.
Not much headache in bowling department
Ravindra Jadeja has returned in the all-rounder department and he is sure to play with Washington Sundar, while he will also complete the spin attack with Kuldeep Yadav. But it is difficult to say whether Nitish Kumar Reddy will get a chance. In this series too, mainly Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna and Harshit Rana will be seen handling the responsibility of fast bowling.
India’s probable playing-11
KL Rahul (captain), Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh and Prasidh Krishna.