Ex-CSK star sends Shubman Gill ‘Yashasvi Jaiswal is better’ message ahead of Asia Cup 2025

Former India and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batsman S Badrinath has been left surprised to see the snub of the star left-handed batsman Yashasvi Jaiswal from the squad for the Asia Cup 2025.

S Badrinath said that Yashasvi Jaiswal has delivered better performances than Shubman Gill and should have been picked in the T20I squad for the continental tournament.

But what about Yashasvi Jaiswal? - S Badrinath

The BCCI selection committee has picked Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, and Shubman Gill as the three opening options for the Asia Cup 2025, leaving out Yashasvi Jaiswal.

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Jaiswal has been one of the best batters in the world since his debut in international cricket and was India's backup opener in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 as well.

Overall, he has scored 723 runs at an average of 36.15 and a strike rate of 164.31 in T20Is, and his IPL performances have also been quite explosive. Despite all this, the batter unfortunately didn't make the cut.

Meanwhile, Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson had opened for India consistently in T20Is for quite some time, but now Gill has made his way into the picture. Gill has been handed vice-captaincy as well, which makes him a first-choice in the playing XI.

Talking about the India squad for the Asia Cup 2025 on his official YouTube channel, S Badrinath said that the backing of the youngsters is a positive sign, but Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sai Sudharsan's non-selection despite better performance than Shubman Gill is surprising. He said:

"I see this mostly as a positive that they are backing a youngster and projecting him for the future. But what about Yashasvi Jaiswal? He has done even better than Shubman Gill. "Also, why has Sai Sudharsan missed out after scoring 700 runs in IPL 2025 and performing better than Shubman Gill? Sanju Samson himself is now in doubt to start in the playing 11."

Is this selection based on recency bias? - S Badrinath

S Badrinath further opined that the recency bias might have played a major role in Shubman Gill getting the nod over Jaiswal and Sudharsan, as this practice has been going on in Indian cricket forever. He added:

"So while backing Shubman Gill, you ask what wrong have Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sai Sudharsan done when their numbers are better than Gill's. Is this selection based on recency bias?

"This has been happening in India cricket forever - pick the player doing the best at the moment even if the formats are different. It's not a bad decision but one that's 50-50," he added.

Shubman Gill hasn't even been consistently in the T20 setup over the last 2-3 years - S Badrinath

The former Indian batter further said that Gill was handed the captaincy despite being out of the T20I setup for a while because of his heroics in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.

He added that Shubman Gill will definitely be a part of the India playing XI in the Asia Cup 2025, replacing Sanju Samson at the top.

"Shubman Gill hasn't even been consistently in the T20 setup over the last 2-3 years. Yet, he has been made the vice-captain of this particular side. It is clear the influence of his excellent captaincy and performance in the England series despite that being Test cricket. So he is definitely going to open the batting with Abhishek Sharma," said Badrinath.

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