After the end of the England tour, India's next assignment is the Asia Cup. It will start from September 9 and all the matches will be played in the UAE. The Indian team will start its campaign against the UAE on September 10. After this, according to the schedule, Team India will play a match against Pakistan on September 14. However, the selectors have a real challenge before this tournament. Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal were not part of the T20 team for some time, and now if they declare themselves available for the Asia Cup, then the selectors will have the challenge of who to select for the opening.
Gill-Yashasvi was not part of the last T20 series.
Gill and Yashasvi were not part of the five-match T20 series played against England in February this year. Both Gill and Yashasvi played their last T20 match against Sri Lanka in Pallekele in July 2024. Since then, the responsibility of opening in any T20 series has been on the shoulders of Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson. After July 2024, India will play a T20 series against Bangladesh, South Africa, and England, and Abhishek and Samson have been responsible for opening. However, if Gill and Yashasvi return, then who will be given the opening? This is the biggest question.
Challenge in front of the selection committee led by Agarkar
Samson himself has also said that before the T20 series against Bangladesh, captain Suryakumar Yadav had asked him to take up this responsibility. However, Suryakumar had told him about seven matches. That is, three matches against Bangladesh and four against South Africa. In these seven matches, Samson had scored three centuries and proved himself. At the same time, Abhishek is currently the number one batsman in T20. He has made a splash with his many stormy innings in international T20. At the same time, Gill is the captain of the Test team, and Yashasvi is an explosive opener. In such a situation, the selection committee led by Ajit Agarkar will have the responsibility of selecting the right squad.
Samson and Abhishek are in great form.
Samson and Abhishek have proved themselves recently, and their figures testify to this. Samson and Abhishek got the responsibility of opening together from October last year, and since then, India has won 10 out of 12 T20s. Apart from this, Samson plays the additional role of wicketkeeper, while Abhishek can also do spin bowling. Samson has so far scored 861 runs in 42 matches in T20 at a strike rate of 152.39. These include three centuries and two half-centuries. At the same time, Abhishek has scored 535 runs in 17 T20 matches at an excellent strike rate of 193.85. These include two centuries and two half-centuries.
The T20 World Cup is to be held next year.
The T20 World Cup is to be held next year, and given that, tampering with the opening pair of these two will not be free from danger. Also, it remains to be seen whether Shubman and Yashasvi can be included in the middle order, because the third position is reserved for captain Suryakumar, and Tilak Verma has played many excellent innings at number four recently. Tilak had scored two centuries in two consecutive matches against South Africa. After this comes the turn of power hitters and batsmen like Shivam Dubey and Rinku Singh, who will get a chance. In such a situation, whether Gill and Yashasvi will be selected for the Asia Cup or not is also a big question.
If Gill is selected, will he get the responsibility of opening?
If Gill and Yashasvi are selected, then Gill may be asked to handle the opening with Abhishek, and Samson will be asked to bat at number three or four. Gill and Abhishek play domestic cricket for the same state, and the coordination between the two is also good. Yashasvi may have to sit on the bench in this situation as well. Gill has so far scored 578 runs in 21 T20 matches for India at an average of 30.42 and a strike rate of 139.28. These include three half-centuries and one century. Yashasvi, on the other hand, has scored 723 runs in 23 T20 matches at an average of 36.15 and a strike rate of 164.32. These include five half-centuries and one century.
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