Former India player turned commentator Aakash Chopra has applauded Yashasvi Jaiswal for scoring a match-winning century in the third ODI against Afghanistan. He added that Jaiswal gets limited opportunities, which makes one feel that the star left-handed opener isn’t a part of the team’s ODI plans.
However, India bowled out Afghanistan for 218 in Chennai on Saturday, June 20. Jaiswal smashed an unbeaten 110 off 86 balls in the chase as India achieved the target with nine wickets and 21.2 overs in hand.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, ‘Aakash Chopra,’ he said, “Yashasvi Jaiswal is getting so few opportunities that you feel he is not part of the scheme of things. He comes as a replacement plan. He comes as a backup option, but whenever he comes, he says he plays very well and deserves a place here.”
“There is pressure. You become a part of the Indian team at this level after six months, and one doesn’t know whether he will play in the next six months or not. He will be seen playing in Tests, that is true, but he is not part of ODI and T20 cricket. He became a part of this team only because Virat Kohli got injured. He got a chance to play in the second match because Nitish Kumar Reddy got injured,” he again shared.
“Nitish got fit, but they still said they would play him by resting KL Rahul, and he did the job. He got three matches in the last series, but he got only two here, and has struck a century in one of them. He had struck a century in the last match of the previous series,” Chopra stated.
“He is a proper player, and he is always reminding us that he needs to be invested in a little more” – Aakash Chopra on Yashasvi Jaiswal
However, Aakash Chopra noted that Yashasvi Jaiswal proved that he needs to be invested in, but aslo said that many other players are still waiting for their opportunities as well.
“He is a proper player, and he is always reminding us that he needs to be invested in a little more. However, that’s the other side of the story of Indian cricket. He still gets opportunities here and there, but then you start thinking that Abhishek Sharma and Ruturaj Gaikwad are also there, and you will start giving Vaibhav Suryavanshi chances at some stage, and Sanju Samson also doesn’t play ODI cricket,” he said.
“Keep hitting whenever you get an opportunity. Yashasvi Jaiswal needs to tell himself repeatedly that whenever the door opens, they must not look beyond him. Yashasvi, keep scoring runs like this. For how long will you stay out? Luck changes automatically many times, and you might find yourself in the middle of an ICC event,” he concluded.
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