Youngsters Shubhman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal are deemed to be the new opening duo for the Indian team in the T20I format with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli both announcing retirement from the format following India's triumph in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.
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The left-hand-right-hand duo are having a terrific year with Shubhman being announced as the vice-captain in both T20I and ODI formats and Yashasvi leading the list for the top run scorer in the 2024 calendar year. The 22-year-old has scored 1033 runs in 19 innings so far, averaging over 60. Meanwhile, Shubhman hasn’t been far at the sixth position in the list.
| Player | Matches | Innings | Runs | Average | HS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yashasvi Jaiswal | 14 | 19 | 1033 | 60.76 | 214* |
| Shubhman Gill | 14 | 19 | 764 | 44.94 | 110 |
Former batter Robin Uthappa has recognized the duo’s importance in the team recently, even comparing them to the legendary duo of Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly. Sachin and Ganguly are often considered the greatest opening duo in cricket history, amassing over 6000 runs together.
| Innings | Runs | Average | century partnerships | half-century partnerships |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 136 | 6609 | 49.64 | 21 | 23 |
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Uthappa’s words of praise for Yashasvi and Shubhman
Uthappa who has played alongside Tendulkar and Ganguly previously, stated that Yashasvi and Shubhman complement each other similar to the two legendary cricketers.
I do see them, when I look at them they remind me of Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar going out together, where their games kind of complimented each other. Their strategies complimented each other, that’s what I see when I see these two go out to bat together.
Uthappa further praised Yashasvi for the wonderful year he’s having with the bat, confident that the youngster will seal his spot in the ODIs too, once he gets a chance.
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Yashasvi has played in 9 Test and 23 T20I games for India so far, amassing over 1000 runs in Test and 700 in the latter. However, getting an opening spot in ODIs would be a tough call as the skipper Rohit and his deputy Shubhman are strongly positioned for the spot.
I honestly feel when he (Jaiswal) gets that opportunity in ODI cricket, he will seal that spot so quickly because after Test cricket and T20I cricket, ODI cricket is going to be so much easier for him. Because he will feel like I have all the time in the world to be able to score runs
Yashasvi missed the squad for the upcoming ODI series against Sri Lanka with stalwarts like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer marking their returns to the format. Despite missing out, the youngster is deemed to get his opportunity soon, considering his terrific form throughout the year.
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