Time To Crown ‘The New Prince’ Of Indian Cricket – Yashasvi Jaiswal

Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal during the Zimbabwe T20I seris [X]

The joys of the T20 World Cup win after 15 years have mellowed down, and it is time for Indian cricket to move forward and look to the future. The new batch of players have auditioned for their spots on the team during the recently concluded T20I series against Zimbabwe. India sent a young crop of players to the ‘Jewel of Africa’ under Shubman Gill’s captaincy.

Shubman Gill became the talk of the town after his exploits in the 2019 Under-19 World Cup. Since those early days, Gill has impressed the cricketing fraternity with his evolving technique, temperament, and grit. Keeping in mind the potential that he has and the popularity that he already garners among cricket fans, Gill has been projected as the next leader, hence his audition during the T20I series vs Zimbabwe. 

But let us keep his captaincy for now; the series has left some questions regarding the future of Shubman Gill, the batter in the T20 set-up of India. At present, the right-handed batter does not appear to be an all-format batter, and hence, his so-called position as the ‘Prince of Indian cricket’ seems to be in danger. 

On the other hand, there is the promising youngster Yashasvi Jaiswal. This left-handed batter has already shown signs of a highly matured batter and has adapted well to all the formats of the game. So, is it time for Indian cricket fans to crown Jaiswal as the ‘Prince of Indian cricket’ aptly?

Why Shubman Gill is currently failing as an all format cricketer?

Shubman Gill’s dip in Test cricket

Shubman Gill started off his Test career as an opener and impressed everyone with his displays during the early days. Every Indian fan will remember the grit and determination he showed during the ‘Epic Gabba Test Win’ in 2021. But since then, his Test career has gone downhill, with him being dropped from the team and then coming back to take the number three spot in the batting line-up. Experts have found a fault in his ability to handle the moving ball as an opener to be one of the main reasons behind the current dip in the purest format. 

Gill suited for ODI cricket

As far as one-day cricket is concerned, Gill has left little scope to his critics. He has taken to this format like a fish to the water. Besides an impressive average of over 60 in the format and already a double Hundred in his bag, Gill’s temperament shows signs of a great ODI player. In just 44 innings, Gill has scored 19 50-plus scores, which shows that his game is very well suited for this format. 

Gill becoming outdated as a T20I opener

In T20I cricket, Gill has a strike rate of 139.50 as an opener. This format is still in its evolving phase, and it currently demands openers who can take the attack to the opposition from the very beginning of the innings. The newer openers coming into the foray are those who have a strike rate of over 150. So, in the era of T20 cricket, which will be the playground of openers like Travis Head and Jake-Fraser McGurk, Gill might be a hindrance for Indian cricket.

Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill during the fourth T20I vs Zimbabwe [X]

Why Yashasvi Jaiswal should be handed over the title of ‘Prince of Indian Cricket’?

Yashasvi Jaiswal, the aggressive Test opener

Yashasvi Jaiswal had a stellar IPL 2023 season, which brought him to the horizons of international cricket. Since his debut on the big stage, Jaiswal has impressed one and all with his aggressive mindset. In Test cricket, Jaiswal has proved to be a dangerous customer as he looks to give India a blazing start that puts the team ahead in most of the games. With the ‘Bazball’ grabbing attention in world cricket, Jaiswal has adapted to the brand of cricket pretty nicely. 

Yashasvi Jaiswal, the ‘new age’ T20 opener

This left-handed batter is a product of the T20 era, and that is reflected in his numbers in the format. Jaiswal has an average of 37.82 in T20Is with a strike rate of 162.78. This shows that in this new era of the game, Jaiswal can give India the edge over other teams on a consistent basis. 

Yashasvi, the future of Indian ODI cricket

Yashasvi has yet to make his debut for India in the ODI format. With Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill doing the job nicely at the top of the order, it seems that there is time for him to make a breakthrough in this format. But if we take a look at his List A career, Gill has scored runs at an average of nearly 54 while maintaining a strike of around 87 in the format. This shows that if and when Jaiswal gets a chance to play in the ODIs, he might well prove himself to be suitable for the format, just as he has done in the other two.

Both Gill and Jaiswal represent the fact that the future of Indian cricket is in good hands. These titles of ‘King’ and ‘Prince’ are overglorified and get undeserved importance from the fans. But if you have to call someone the ‘Prince of Indian cricket’, may be it is time that the title now shifts from Shubman Gill to Yashasvi Jaiswal.