Just a day to go before the T20 World Cup 2024 begins, with hosts USA taking on Canada in the opening fixture of the campaign. For the Indian team, the campaign begins on June 05 when they will square off against Ireland. All of the members of the Indian team have already reached New York, where they will take on Bangladesh in a warm-up clash ahead of the marquee event. As the tournament nears, experts and former cricketers have contemplated the team's strongest XI. As Sanjay Manjrekar picked his XI, there was no place for Yashasvi Jaiswal in the team.
Speaking to Star Sports, Manjrekar said he would've had Jaiswal in his starting XI if Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma weren't playing. But, with the experienced duo in the roster, Jaiswal had to sit out.
"When you look at the batting order, you can see how it pans out. Opening pair: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli. Unfortunately, there's no place for Yashasvi Jaiswal because Virat will not bat at number three; that's a reality we have embraced. I would have loved to have Jaiswal if there were no Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, and we could go with a young opening pair. But that's not going to happen, so Jaiswal has to sit out," said Manjrekar on Star Sports.
Manjrekar went with Rishabh Pant at the No. 4 spot, ahead of Sanju Samson, despite the fact that the latter has been in a better run of form.
"At number three, you could have Suryakumar Yadav and then Rishabh Pant. I want Pant to get into those India colours very early in the tournament because he is a big-match player. India's problem in ICC events has been winning the semis or finals, and they need their big-match players to be feeling good. We know enough about Rishabh Pant; he's a big stage, big pressure, big player. Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant are the players India have to invest heavily in. That's how I would go," he added.
As the current setup goes, only one of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shivam Dube can be drafted into the Indian team. It looks like Dube will get the nod ahead of Jaiswal.