The squad announcement for India national cricket team’s upcoming ODI series against Afghanistan national cricket team has sparked major debate after explosive opener Yashasvi Jaiswal was left out of the squad.
The Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee named Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill as the designated openers for the three-match ODI series, while returning wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan is expected to serve as the back-up option.
However, the omission of Jaiswal — who scored a century in his last ODI appearance — has now become one of the biggest talking points surrounding the squad selection.
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Former selector questions Yashasvi Jaiswal’s omission from ODI plans
Former BCCI chief selector MSK Prasad openly questioned the decision to leave Jaiswal out of the squad and expressed disappointment over the youngster not even finding a place in the India A side for the upcoming tri-series in Sri Lanka.
"He (Jaiswal) should have been picked for the India A squad. It is unfortunate."
Prasad acknowledged the challenge of fitting Jaiswal into the playing XI with Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill already occupying the opening slots, but still felt the left-hander deserved opportunities elsewhere.
"He (Jaiswal) should have been picked for the India A squad. It is unfortunate."
The former selector further stressed that Jaiswal is too talented a player to be ignored in any format.
"He is too good a player to miss out on any format. He should not treat this as a disappointment."
Prasad also backed the youngster to emerge stronger from the setback and compared the situation to previous selection dilemmas involving top Indian cricketers.
"These things happen in cricket. When I was chairman of selectors, we could not find a place for Shreyas Iyer despite him doing extraordinarily well in domestic cricket."
"Jaiswal is already a tough boy, and this will only make him tougher."
Yashasvi Jaiswal’s ODI omission sparks fresh debate
Despite playing only four ODIs for India so far, Jaiswal has already impressed significantly in the format.
The left-handed batter scored a brilliant century against South Africa national cricket team in December during his most recent ODI appearance, making his exclusion from the Afghanistan series even more surprising.
However, the strong performances and established opening partnership of Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill appear to have pushed him out of the immediate ODI setup.
As things stand, Jaiswal’s only likely international appearance in June will now come in the one-off Test match against Afghanistan.