Former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar took a hard look at India’s white-ball selection logic after Yashasvi Jaiswal was left out of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup squad, questioning whether the selectors ever really told the young opener where he stood.
Jaiswal remains the only batter from the post-Rohit Sharma-Virat Kohli generation to prove himself as a genuine all-format regular. Technique, tempo control, range and temperament, it ticks every modern box. Still, it cannot be considered a coincidence that whenever India get to a major crossroads with the white ball, luck seems to have eluded the Bhadohi-born left-hander.
In 2024, the explanation was experience. On the demanding American and Caribbean surfaces, the selectors appreciated the know-how of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma before their youth. Jaiswal made it to the T20 format. Seven months later, history repeated itself in the 50-over game. Jaiswal was named in the starting 15 for the Champions Trophy, but was dropped after head coach Gautam Gambhir insisted that a fourth spinner was non-negotiable. Once again, Jaiswal became expendable.
When Shubman Gill, seen as India’s next all-format leader, was dropped from the T20 plans, logic might have suggested Jaiswal’s return. Instead, the selectors decided that the second wicketkeeper should play the role of the opener. In came Ishan Kishan, buoyed by a 49-ball hundred in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final.
What went largely unnoticed was that Jaiswal had smashed a 50-ball century against the same Haryana side in a 230-over chase just days earlier.
The pattern is becoming familiar. In another two-and-a-half weeks, Jaiswal will once again face India’s ODI XI, despite score a hundred in the team’s previous match against South Africa. This time, Gill’s return as regular ODI captain closes the door.
Jaiswal will turn 24 on Sunday. Time on paper is still his ally. However, repeated omissions come at a cost. These are the times when even the strongest self-confidence begins to fray.
“It is unfortunate that Yashasvi is being left out again and again through no fault of his own. He has been in tremendous form across all formats of the game and I don’t know what else he has to do to get into the team,” Vengsarkar told PTI.
Jaiswal last played a T20I in Sri Lanka in July 2024. After that, India’s priorities definitely shifted towards Test cricket, with the youngster encouraged to focus on the red-ball game. However, the numbers tell their own story. His last five T20I scores were 93, 12, 40, 30 and 10, all as an opener with a strike rate of 200. It was exactly the kind of high-impact output in keeping with India’s current attack-at-all-costs philosophy.
“No one should leave a match-winner out of the team,” Vengsarkar said, offering a stark assessment.
The former captain, who famously dragged a 19-year-old Kohli into the national team in 2008, agreed with the selectors on Gill’s exclusion, insisting that current form must remain central to selection. But when pressed on who he would choose instead, his answer was unequivocal.
“They are all excellent players but I am on the selection committee when they judge players based on current form and fitness. And if you ask who I would pick instead of Gill, my choice would be Jaiswal. He has shown time and again what a top-class performer is and always gives the team the kind of starts that are required these days,” said the 116-Test, 129-ODI veteran.
T20 cricket does not reward absence. Rhythm is his primary currency and visibility matters. While others remained in the white ball loop through bilateral series and remained familiar faces to the selectors, Jaiswal slipped out of sight. Not because he failed, but because the system redirected him.
“You are bound to lose confidence if you feel that you are not wanted in one format. It will affect his confidence and this game is all about confidence. And confidence comes when you have performances backed by runs,” Vengsarkar added.
– The end
Issued by:
Saurabh Kumar
Published on:
December 25, 2025
