Captain Shubman Gill on Saturday expressed his hope that “phenomenal” Yashasvi Jaiswal will keep producing outstanding performances to maintain his position in the Indian ODI scheme of things.
In the third and final ODI in Chennai, India defeated Afghanistan by nine wickets thanks to an undefeated 110 from Jaiswal. In the 50-over format, it was the left-hander’s second century.
“We all know he is a phenomenal player and it’s not easy for any player (to sit out). If all the players are available, he is the unfortunate one who sometimes misses out and he got a couple of games in this series and he played really well today. So, hopefully he will continue to perform and he will continue to keep grabbing the opportunities that he gets,” PTI quoted Gill as saying in the post-match press conference.
In order to make room for Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma, who also scored a crucial 79 while sharing a 170-run partnership with his younger teammate, Gill batted at No. 3 in the final two games of the series.
However, Gill will have to move back to the opening position when Virat Kohli re-enters the team—possibly for the ODI series against England—leaving the No. 3 to the seasoned batter.
Even if he is in the squad, Jaiswal may soon find himself back on the bench because Rohit also scored runs in the series. Gill promised to address the issue as it comes up.
“It is good having all the players performing and I think the squad (for the England series) will be announced tomorrow or in the next couple of days. So, we will see the squad and we will have the best 11 put out in England. We will see where everyone’s fitness is. If everyone is fit, like I said, the squad will be announced and we will see who is in the squad and based on the squad, we will try to make the best 11 possible,” he explained.
After taking seven wickets in three games against Afghanistan, young pacer Gurnoor Brar made a compelling argument for his inclusion in the England side.
“I think he ticked most of the boxes. But there are some things that he would learn with experience and hopefully he is going to keep growing as a bowler. If I am to be a bit critical, he did go for a little bit of runs. He was a little bit inconsistent at times. But he is playing his first series at the top level and he is bowling quick. He has got all the good signs that we want from a young, tall, fast bowler and with experience, he is only going to get better,” he said.
Harsh Dubey, a young left-arm spinner, too had a lot of potential, according to Gill.
“If we see the pool of all-rounders, more specifically left-arm all-rounders, I think that’s a good option to have. We have got Axar (Patel) Bhai, Dubey, so, we have got a good pool and he’s someone who’s very young. When we look at all-rounders like him, it’s important that we have the confidence in these kind of players. They can bowl 10 overs for us if need be, they can get the job done for us,” he added.
Despite captain Hashamtullah Shahidi’s first ODI century, Afghanistan was swept out for 218, leaving coach Richard Pybus dissatisfied with the batting effort.
“It was a below part effort, and we needed 300 minimum on this wicket. Hopefully when we come back here for a T20I series (later this year), we can correct some of the areas that we missed out on this time,” said Pybus.
