IND vs AFG: In a surprising turn of events, Yashasvi Jaiswal will not be participating in the first T20I match between the Indian team led by Rohit Sharma and Afghanistan led by Ibrahim Zadran at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali on January 11 (Thursday) due to a sore right groin. As a result, Shubman Gill will be partnering with Rohit Sharma to open the Indian innings.
During the toss, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma confirmed that Yashasvi Jaiswal would not be participating in the match in Mohali. This decision comes after head coach Rahul Dravid's earlier confirmation in a pre-match press conference on January 10 (Wednesday), that Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal would open the batting for India.
Groin Injury Keeps Yashasvi out
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) also confirmed through their X (previously Twitter) account that Yashasvi Jaiswal was omitted from India's team in the first T20I due to a sore right groin. “UPDATE: Mr Yashasvi Jaiswal was unavailable for selection for the first T20I due to a sore right groin,” they posted.
Coming to the ongoing IND vs AFG match, Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to field first at Mohali. After the toss he stated, "We will bowl first. No particular reason, the pitch is good and it doesn't change a lot here. A lot to gain from the 3 games, we haven't had too much T20 cricket leading to the World Cup, there's IPL, but this is an international game and we'll try to achieve a few things. I had a chat with Rahul bhai regarding the combination going forward and what we need to do as a group. That's what we'll try to do, but winning is the most important thing. Sanju Samson, Avesh, Yashasvi (who didn't pull off well) and Kuldeep miss out." as he spoke at the toss.
“As of now, we will certainly be opening with Rohit and Jaiswal. But when you have a squad, you have to have that flexibility to do whatever is required if that is in the best interest of the team and gives us the best chance to succeed. So, nothing is closed. But certainly, we’re really happy with what Jaiswal has done as an opener for us, and he gives us a left-right combination as well at the top,” Dravid had said ahead of the match in the press conference.