Yashasvi Jaiswal Left Out as Sanjay Manjrekar Presses Apology
Yashasvi Jaiswal is out of India’s ODI squad for the upcoming series against Afghanistan, and Sanjay Manjrekar wants the selectors to call him and apologise. The former India international said the omission leaves a 24-year-old batter on the outside despite recent output at the top level.
Sanjay Manjrekar on Jaiswal
Manjrekar did not soften the point. “If they were compelled to pick Rohit Sharma for whatever reason, the first thing they’ve got to do is pick up the phone and talk to Jaiswal and apologise, because this is a young player who’s done tremendous things at the toughest level, in Test cricket. He’s just 24 years old, in his prime, with a bright future ahead, same with Sai Sudharsan.”
He tied that view to Jaiswal’s last ODI appearance, when he made 116 not out against South Africa. For Manjrekar, leaving that form out of the conversation weakens India’s selection logic before the Afghanistan series even begins.
India’s top-order debate
Manjrekar widened the lens to the players around Jaiswal. He said Sai Sudharsan has three fifties in his four innings batting at the top of the order for India, while Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan and Jaiswal are “tailor-made to be a top three in 50-overs cricket.”
He also pushed back on the direction of the current selection call, pointing to Rohit Sharma as a veteran whose fitness is a question mark and who is clearly out of form. In the same argument, he said Rohit has scored 838 runs at an average of 45 in ODIs since the 2023 ODI World Cup, while Virat Kohli has scored 949 runs at an average of 59 over the same span.
Ajit Agarkar and the selectors
The criticism landed directly on Ajit Agarkar, the chairman of selectors. Manjrekar said it cannot be Agarkar believing this is the right way forward for Indian cricket, and added that the selectors’ job is to think about the 50-100 other players vying to play for India.
He sharpened that point with more examples. “Look at Shubman Gill’s numbers, look at Ishan Kishan’s numbers, Ruturaj Gaikwad, who is nowhere in the running, has an ODI hundred.”
The immediate consequence is simple: Jaiswal has been left out, while India’s ODI top-order planning now sits under sharper scrutiny. Manjrekar’s case is that the next call should not be about protecting established names alone, but about whether India is backing the batting group he named as the best fit for 50-overs cricket.
