There is something called a good headache. In team sports, it refers to the state of a side with a problem of plenty and bench strength. Like the Australian cricket teams of the first decade of this century, or the 2014 German football team which won the World Cup despite missing a number of regulars.
What the Indian selectors are going to face cannot be called a happy headache. There is plenty and there are problems due to that, as far as the opening options are concerned. That’s because Yashaswi Jaiswal’s form is expected to spark a debate on his inclusion in the big event.
Not in World Cup contention before India left for the West Indies in July, the left-handed batter has hauled himself into the race. This has happened despite Jaiswal not having played an ODI yet. That’s strange. A batter is usually not picked for 50-over games for doing well in Tests and T20Is.
To say that he has staked his claim for a World Cup berth after just two Tests and T20Is apiece may also sound outrageous, but such is the impact he has made. With a range of shots, steely determination and hunger for runs, Jaiswal can dominate attacks and play long innings in Indian conditions and Sri Lanka, where India play their Asia Cup games.
What to do with this youngster will be a troublesome question facing the selectors because they appeared to have zeroed in on opening options. There is captain Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill, who the team management has invested in, and who averages above 60 in ODIs. Ishan Kishan is likely to make the cut as second wicketkeeper, who can be used at the top and in the middle-order. That leaves no room for Jaiswal.
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Or does it? There will most likely be four fast bowlers, three spinners including Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya and Kishan in the squad. That leaves six slots for specialist batters. Rohit, Gill and Virat Kohli take three. Fitness permitting, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav would have been the others. But, as of now, Jaiswal may force a rethink and get into a duel with Surya for that 15th slot.
There are examples of in-form players getting selected in a format after excelling in another. Matthew Hayden was not part of Australia’s ODI scheme of things before breaking his way in with a barrage of runs in Tests against India in 2001. Shikhar Dhawan made it to the 2013 Champions Trophy on the back of a splendid century on Test debut against Australia in 2013 and ended up as the highest run-getter.
There is the opposite example as well. Surya flopped in ODIs right after being a super hit in T20Is. His poor run in the 50-over game continued in the West Indies, before he produced another scarcely believable knock in the second T20I.
But the difference between Jaiswal and Surya is current form and record in List A cricket, where the former averages nearly 54. The Mumbai opener has looked different from others in the Caribbean. Only Tilak Varma in the T20Is matched him in fluency. Appetite for runs sets him apart, other than multiple scoring options against pace and spin. That was on display in the second T20I, after he threw it away on debut in the first.
Yes, the attack was not top-class, nor were the pitches challenging. Even the grounds were small in certain venues. What he will be up against better teams is a different ball game. But like class being permanent, form is important. And Jaiswal has certainly hit a purple patch. Luck has favoured at times, but so has pluck.
Good news for Jaiswal and his well wishers may not be music to the ears of the selectors. They have to either leave out someone who they thought was a deserving candidate a few weeks ago, or overlook a potential match-winner. Both are dirty jobs, involving risk of being criticised, no matter what they do. Reason? Someone projected as the future of Indian cricket is bludgeoning the door to be a part of the present.
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