CHENNAI: It is not easy being Yashasvi Jaiswal. Three years ago, when he broke into the Indian team as a Test opener, he looked like the next big thing. An all-format star who could open the batting for India in all three teams. He opened with Rohit Sharma in Tests and T20Is in the months that followed leading up to the T20 World Cup in 2024.
At the global event, Virat Kohli partnered up with Rohit as Jaiswal warmed the bench. India won the title and soon, he was out of the realm of things in the format. Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson took over and haven't looked back since. Now, add Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Ishan Kishan in the mix too and Jaiswal's chances in the format looks even slimmer.
While he is still India's Test opener, in ODIs, chances were scarce and hard to come by. Unless one of the top three players — Rohit, Kohli and Shubman Gill — missed out, he had to wait on the sidelines. And when the chance comes, every one of them would feel like an audition. After his debut in Nagpur early last year, Jaiswal had to wait till the South Africa series in December that year where Gill was injured. He did not start well, but finished with a century. Again, now, with Kohli injured, Jaiswal got a chance against Afghanistan in Lucknow. But he fell for four runs.
Pressure only grew when he landed in Chennai for the final ODI. He knew that if he missed out, the wait would be longer assuming Kohli gets back into the XI for the ODIs vs England. Then the next ODI series against West Indies is in September. Knowing all that, Jaiswal knew he had to leave a mark on Saturday. And that is exactly what he did with an unbeaten 110 that took India over the line.
The Mumbai batter, in the process, added 170 runs with Rohit, who scored 79 runs. Rohit's fifty is as significant as Jaiswal's ton for the individual. If the youngster is frustratingly waiting for a chance, the veteran, since removed as captain, has not seemed like his old self. He has the runs since — 552 runs at 50.18 average and 96.5 strike rate — but somehow, it has not been the same. For the 39-year-old, who will be 40 when the ODI World Cup comes next year, the uncertainty over his place every time he takes the field has not served well.
From the outside, it seems like he is feeling the heat, desperate for runs, knowing full well that he might be shown the door if he has two bad series. That chief selector Ajit Agarkar and coach Gautam Gambhir have remained non-committal about his place in the World Cup side despite his explicit intent to continue has not served him well. At this point, there is no doubt about Kohli, but Rohit, it seems, might feel like he is auditioning and feeling the fear of failure in every innings, which may have created doubts in his usual aggressive approach. From striking at 117.23 since 2023 till the 2025 Champions Trophy, his SR since has dipped 20 points.
On Saturday, the two openers, for completely different reasons, were under the lens and they came out all guns blazing. Rohit, despite the scratchy start and lucky breaks, found his rhythm and caught up with Jaiswal before missing out on his 34th ODI hundred. While they might continue to feel the heat in England, Gill, the captain who replaced Rohit, felt it was a good headache to have.
"I mean, it's a good kind of headache to have, having all the players that are performing. And I think the squad will be announced either tomorrow or in the next couple of days. We'll see where everyone's fitness is. If everyone is fit, like I said, the squad will be announced and we'll see who is in the squad and based on the squad, we'll try to make the best XI possible," Gill said when asked about the road ahead because if Kohli comes back, Gill is likely to go back to open with Rohit leaving Jaiswal out.
"Honestly, we all know he (Jaiswal) is a phenomenal player and it's not easy for any player. If all the players are available, he is the unfortunate one who sometimes misses out and because Virat bhai was not available in this series, he had the opportunity. He got a couple of games and he played really well today. So hopefully, he will continue the form and he will continue to keep grabbing the opportunities that he gets," Gill added.