As a heated debate has erupted over the selection of India’s team for the ICC T20 World Cup 2026, former India captain and former chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar has made a bold statement. Vengsarkar feels that Yashasvi Jaiswal has been treated unfairly despite performing well whenever he has played.
Yashasvi Jaiswal has often found himself sidelined due to the presence of senior stars like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, while recently Shubman Gill was preferred ahead of him in T20I cricket.
Now, with the Indian cricket team looking for an additional wicketkeeper who can also open the innings, Yashasvi Jaiswal has missed out again, this time as he has lost his place in the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 squad to Ishan Kishan.
Yashasvi Jaiswal should have been selected in India’s T20 World Cup 2026 squad: Former selector’s blunt take
This means that the left-handed opening batsman will not be able to play in the upcoming five-match T20 series against New Zealand. Even in the upcoming ODIs, Gill’s return as India captain meant Jaiswal had to sit out despite proving his class across all formats.
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In a candid assessment, Vengsarkar has questioned the decision to drop Jaiswal from India’s T20I squad and suggested that he should have replaced Shubman Gill in the team. The young opening batsman last played a T20I in July 2024 during the Sri Lanka tour as Jaiswal was asked to focus on red-ball cricket.
Despite staying away from T20Is, his recent figures remain impressive. The young explosive batsman’s last five T20I scores are 93, 12, 40, 30 and 10, all at the top of the order, and he has scored at a strike rate close to 200, which fits in perfectly with India’s aggressive T20 style.
Dilip Vengsarkar’s blast: “Why leave out the match winner?
Vengsarkar feels that repeatedly dismissing a proven match-winner can damage a player’s confidence. Rhythm is very important in T20 cricket and a long gap from the format can make things difficult. While other players continued to play white-ball series and remain in the selectors’ sights, Jaiswal gradually fell out as the system pushed him in another direction.
PTI quoted Dilip Vengsarkar as saying, “It is unfortunate that Yashasvi is being dropped again and again without any mistake. He has been in tremendous form in all formats of the game and I don’t know what more he has to do to get into the team. One should not leave out a match-winner from the team.”
The former icon further explained, “If you are made to feel that you are not needed in a format, you will definitely lose confidence. I mean it will affect his confidence and this game is all about confidence. And confidence comes when you have performances with runs.”
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I don’t remove Yashasvi Jaiswal: Dilip Vengsarkar criticizes Ajit Agarkar
Meanwhile, former Indian coach WV Raman believes that there may have been discussions behind the scenes between the selectors and Yashasvi Jaiswal. However, Raman feels that Jaiswal’s talent is too big to be ignored for long and he will get more chances on the world stage.
“Some conversations cannot be made public but now the World T20 squad has been selected and no one can do anything. Jaiswal will have to bide his time but I am confident with the kind of talent he is, he will play many more World Cups,” Raman said.
However, Vengsarkar has insisted that Yashasvi Jaiswal would never have been removed if he had been in charge. He signed off by saying, “I wouldn’t have told him anything because I wouldn’t have left him in the first place.”
