Skipper Shubman Gill on Saturday hoped that “phenomenal” Yashasvi Jaiswal will continue to churn out big performances to keep himself in contention in India’s ODI scheme of things. Jaiswal made an unbeaten 110, which carried India to a thumping nine-wicket win over Afghanistan in the third and final ODI here. It was the left-hander’s second hundred in the 50-over format. “We all know he is a phenomenal player and it’s not easy for any player (to sit out). If all the players are available, he is the unfortunate one who sometimes misses out and he got a couple of games in this series and he played really well today,” said Gill in the post-match press conference.
“So, hopefully he will continue to perform and he will continue to keep grabbing the opportunities that he gets,” he added.
Gill batted at No.3 in the last two matches in the series to accommodate Jaiswal at the opening slot along with Rohit Sharma, who also made a valuable 79 while sharing a 170-run stand with his younger teammate.
But once Virat Kohli returns to the side, possible for the ODI series against England, Gill will have to return to opening slot, leaving the No. 3 to the veteran batter.
Since Rohit also made runs here, it could be Jaiswal again sitting on the bench soon, even if he is in the squad.
Gill said he will tackle that situation as and when it arises.
“It is good having all the players performing and I think the squad (for the England series) will be announced tomorrow or in the next couple of days. So, we will see the squad and we will have the best 11 put out in England.
“We will see where everyone’s fitness is. If everyone is fit, like I said, the squad will be announced and we will see who is in the squad and based on the squad, we will try to make the best 11 possible,” he explained.
Young pacer Gurnoor Brar then made a strong case for himself to be included in the squad to England, picking up seven wickets across three matches against Afghanistan.
“I think he ticked most of the boxes. But there are some things that he would learn with experience and hopefully he is going to keep growing as a bowler. If I am to be a bit critical, he did go for a little bit of runs. He was a little bit inconsistent at times.
“But he is playing his first series at the top level and he is bowling quick. He has got all the good signs that we want from a young, tall, fast bowler and with experience, he is only going to get better,” he said.
Gill also saw a lot of potential in young left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey.
“If we see the pool of all-rounders, more specifically left-arm all-rounders, I think that’s a good option to have. We have got Axar (Patel) Bhai, Dubey, so, we have got a good pool and he’s someone who’s very young.
“When we look at all-rounders like him, it’s important that we have the confidence in these kind of players. They can bowl 10 overs for us if need be, they can get the job done for us,” he added.
Afghanistan coach Richard Pybus was disappointed with the batting effort after being bundled out for 218 despite skipper Hashamtullah Shahidi making a maiden ODI hundred.
“It was a below part effort, and we needed 300 minimum on this wicket. Hopefully when we come back here for a T20I series (later this year), we can correct some of the areas that we missed out on this time,” said Pybus.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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