‘I want to see Jaiswal in place of Ishan Kishan’ – Wasim Jaffer on ideal candidate for India’s opening batsman position

The former Indian opening batter Wasim Jaffer has some shrewd observations regarding the budding players taking up the prestigious position of opening the innings for the Indian cricket team in T20Is. Jaffer recently gave a key reminder to the team‘s head coach Rahul Dravid to make a change in the team’s top order as he suggests, picking up Yashasvi Jaiswal over Ishan Kishan for the remainder of the T20I series in India’s tour of West Indies.

The Indian cricket team have won the Test and ODI series against West Indies and is currently in the run to play the five-match T20Is. West Indies sealed a victory against India by four runs in the first T20I match in Trinidad and will play the 2nd match of the series on 6 August 2023 at the Guyana National Stadium, Guyana. 

Wasim Jaffer on picking Yashasvi Jaiswal over Ishan Kishan 

“I want to see Yashasvi Jaiswal. He should play as an opening batter. I want to see Jaiswal in place of Ishan Kishan. Ishan Kishan’s T20I form worries me. In the last 15 innings, he hasn’t even scored a 40, the strike rate is also too low. So, that’s a cause for concern, but he was in good form in ODIs. It’s a different format (T20I). He also had an ordinary IPL season,” said Wasim Jaffer during an exclusive chat with ESPNCricinfo. 

“Why not give an opportunity to the boy who played very well in the IPL? He won the emerging player award and is confident. I’ll definitely look towards that change. “The first T20I was played on a difficult pitch, so expecting them [Kishan and Shubman Gill] to play in that fashion (free-flowing mode) is too much expectation. It’s crucial to see the pitch for the second T20I. If it’s good enough, then our batters will obviously play well,” added Jaffer.