"Unfair If You Do Not Take Him" - Aakash Chopra On Yashasvi Jaiswal's Spot In Team India T20 World Cup 2024 Squad

Former cricketer turned commentator Aakash Chopra believes it would be unfair to not take Yashasvi Jaiswal to the T20 World Cup 2024 after the young opener smashed a quick fifty in India's victory over Afghanistan in the 2nd T20I on Sunday (January 14).

Jaiswal, who missed the series opener, continued his fine run in T20I cricket with a 34-ball 60 to help India secure a series win against Afghanistan in the at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore.

Earlier, Chopra had said Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli should be the openers with Suryakumar Yadav batting at number three, but after Jaiswal's recent knock, the opinion may have changed.

Chopra said that swashbuckling opener is above Shubman Gill in the pecking order and is undroppable from Team India at the moment, adding that it would be unfair if he is not included in the squad for the T20 World Cup this year in the West Indies and the USA.

"Yashasvi is going. Again, the way he is batting. You will feel it would be unfair if you do not take him. Sometimes you are undroppable, meaning he is selectable. That is why he is here, making runs. Now he has gone beyond (Shubman) Gill. But now you will not be able to touch him," Chopra said on Jio Cinema.

The former India batter also warned that if Jaiswal does not get a ticket to the West Indies and the USA for the World Cup, India will be repeating the same old mistake of having a slow start of play in the shortest format.

"You should not even try for it (not selecting Jaiswal) because you need something like this while batting. Otherwise, it will be the same as 2022; again and again, everything will be the same, the style of playing will be the same and only the year has changed," added Chopra.

Jaiswal has played 16 T20Is so far, scoring 498 runs at an average of 35.57 with a strike rate of 163.81. He has scored a century and four fifties so far in 15 innings, with his best score being 100.

In the 12 matches he has won with India, Jaiswal has made 487 runs at an average of 44.27 and a strike rate of 167.35. His one century and four fifties have all come in winning efforts.

His run count in winning efforts, his strike rate and fifty-plus scores in victories show how impactful Jaiswal has been as an opener and how much his runs as an opener mean to the Indian T20I side.

A brilliant Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 season with the Rajasthan Royals pushed Jaiswal into stardom and earned him a place in the national side.

In 14 matches of the IPL 2023, Jaiswal made 625 runs at an average of 48.07 and a strike rate of 163.61. He scored a century and five fifties in 14 games, with the best score of 124. He was RR's top run scorer and the overall fifth-highest run scorer in the tournament.