IPL 2024: Who will be India’s second opener at the T20 World Cup?

Has Yashasvi Jaiswal batted himself out of India’s ideal 11 at this summer’s T20 World Cup? This is the question on the minds of countless Indian cricket fans and pundits as India’s wonderkid grapples with poor form in the ongoing IPL 2024 season.

After a terrific 12 months, during which he broke into the Indian team after scoring 625 runs for Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2023 to break the record for most runs in a season by an uncapped player, followed by a century on Test debut and most recently 712 runs in five matches against England, the 22-year-old opener is in a funk.

In seven innings for RR, Jaiswal has managed 121 runs an at average of 17.29 and a strike-rate of 145.78. He’s twice been out for 24, once for a duck and has a best of 39. Critically, however, is the trend of not getting past the Powerplay and failing to bat out time in hopes of converting a start into an innings of substance.

So far in IPL 2024, only once has Jaiswal managed to bat beyond the first six overs, and that was against Punjab Kings in Jaipur when he got as far as the 12th over before he was dismissed for 39 off 28 balls. All his other six dismissals have been inside the Powerplay: twice in the first over, twice in the second and twice in the fifth.

Thus, along with several other Indian cricketers who began the IPL as T20 World Cup starters, Jaiswal has now slipped into the pool of T20 World Cup contenders.

That said, given his meteoric rise into the Indian team and the stellar form he showed playing for the country – 1028 runs at 68.53 in nine Tests, 502 runs in 16 T20I innings with a strike-rate of 161.93 – there is every reason to believe that the BCCI selectors and team management will be patient with Jaiswal and extend him a bit of room.

However, if he continues to struggle for RR in the IPL, it is very foreseeable that Jaiswal loses his spot in India’s starting 11 at the World Cup. So, who then becomes the second opener?
Given that BCCI secretary Jay Shah has named Rohit Sharma as India’s captain for the T20 World Cup, that is one opening slot taken. Had Jaiswal been in better form, his place in the 11 would have been a given. But his poor run, measured against the returns of Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan in IPL 2024 so far, suggest that the left-handed opener may not be an automatic pick in India’s 11 at the World Cup.

Gill has scored 298 runs for Gujarat Titans, striking at just under 146 with two fifties. Kishan has 192 from seven innings for Mumbai Indians at a strike-rate of 172.97. Should the team management look at the season’s leading run-getter Virat Kohli, who so far has the Orange Cap for his 379 runs, there is another in-form option. That option, however, remains slim given Kohli’s success at No 3 for India.

Then there is the enticing option of handing a call-up to the uncapped opener Abhishek Sharma, who has been a revelation for Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2024. The 23-year-old is striking at 215.96 and has a series of astounding cameos inside the Powerplay overs. Abhishek’s standout innings include two for which he was named Player of the Match – 63 off 23 balls against Mumbai Indians, 37 off 12 versus Chennai Super Kings – and 46 off 12 against DC, and he has played a role in getting SRH off to exceptional starts in the three matches they’ve topped 260 in.
If Kishan wins a recall from the BCCI selectors, it will also give India a second wicketkeeper’s choice and potentially open a spot in the middle order for someone like Shivam Dube who has so far made 245 runs at a strike-rate of 157 for Chennai Super Kings. Kishan’s competitors for the wicketkeeping role are Rishabh Pant, who has marked his return to cricket with 254 runs from eight innings at a strike-rate of 160 and who leads the wicketkeeping charts; Rajasthan Royals’ skipper Sanju Samson who has 276 from seven innings including three fifties while batting at one-down; and the specialist finisher Jitesh Sharma who cannot point to solid numbers for Punjab Kings (128 runs from eight innings) but was India’s go-to option in their previous four T20I assignments.

India start their T20 World Cup campaign on June 5 in New York against Ireland.