Why absence of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant in IND vs ENG T20I series is puzzling?

by · Inside Sport India

The likes of Rishabh Pant and Yashasvi Jaiswal were expected to be a part of India's squad for ENG T20Is.

Honestly, India’s squad for the England T20Is is a little confusing. Sanju Samson is the lead wicket-keeper in the series and Dhruv Jurel is the second keeper. The series won’t have Rishabh Pant.. and for openers, India’s most successful batters in the last couple of years, Yashasvi Jaiswal didn’t make the cut, but Abhishek Sharma did, who has been, kind of, bit of a failure.

Why Dhruv Jurel Over Rishabh Pant?

Initially, when the T20I squad was revealed last week, certain reports claimed that Jaiswal made it to the squad, and Abhishek missed out, but the amends were made later. After the BCCI made the official announcement. This only adds suspicion in the minds of the players, as well as the fans, why players with relatively inferior records were picked?

There is no doubt that Rishabh Pant is a better T20I player than Dhruv Jurel, and also Yashasvi Jaiswal would any day rank higher than Abhishek. While some may disagree, but numbers suggest so. Rishabh has played 76 T20Is till now, scored 1209 runs, at an average of 23. He has three fifties to his name. On the flip side, Jurel doesn’t have much international exposure, and in 28 IPL matches has 347 runs.

Why Yashasvi Jaiswal Over Abhishek Sharma?

Let’s compare Yashasvi and Abhishek now. The former has played 23 T20Is and scored 723 runs at an average of 36. While the latter has 256 runs in 12 matches, at an average of 23. So, that way, the selection might be questionable. Yes, one can understand that Yashasvi and Rishabh needed rest after a grueling IND vs AUS series, but then if fatigue is the factor, why can’t players miss the IPL? To not have India’s two main players in the setup could eventually hurt India in the series.

Another counter argument could be — Rishabh is playing in the Ranji Trophy, while Jaiswal is available for the next match of Mumbai. But then, at least for now, white-ball cricket would have held them in good stead, with the long season for ODIs and T20Is arriving.

IND T20I Squad

Suryakumar Yadav (C), Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel (vc), Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammad Shami, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel (wk).