'Sky is the limit’ for Yashasvi Jaiswal

Yashasvi Jaiswal during India’s practice session prior to the ICC World Test Championship final at The Oval, London, recently. Pic/Getty Images

India's four-member national selection committee (chief selector slot vacated by Chetan Sharma is yet to be filled) on Friday answered calls for an infusion of youth in India's Test XI and picked Mumbai's Yashasvi Jaiswal and Maharashtra's Ruturaj Gaikwad in the squad for next month's two-match Test series in the West Indies. The selectors dropped No. 3 batsman Cheteshwar Pujara, 35, for the series which kicks off at Windsor Park Stadium in Dominica from July 12. The second Test will be held at Trinidad from July 20 to 24.

Mumbai boy Jaiswal, 21, who was in England recently as a standby in the WTC final squad, is over the moon. "I'm delighted. It's big to get into India's Test team. It is one of the best moments in my life. I am really excited. It's now up to me to give my best performance. The sky is the limit for me and I will focus on my game," Jaiswal told mid-day on Friday.

Kohli's motivational words

When asked about his experience of being in the Indian team's dressing room at The Oval during the recent Test against Australia, Jaiswal said: "I got the opportunity to learn a lot from the Indian team. Virat [Kohli] bhaiya said, ‘believe in giving your 100 per cent effort and work hard on your game. God will take care of the rest.'"

Ruturaj Gaikwad

Meanwhile, former India women's team coach Tushar Arothe, who guided the Ajinkya Rahane-led West Zone team to a win in the Duleep Trophy final at Coimbatore in September 2022, heaped praise on Jaiswal, who scored a match-winning 265 against South Zone in the final. "I saw Yashasvi first when he was in the U-16 West Zone camp at Baroda in 2015 or 2016. Technique-wise he was brilliant then too. I am surprised why he is not bowling [leg-spin]. He showed his class in the Duleep Trophy final. The only thing he has to do is keep a cool head," remarked Arothe.

"I am very happy for him and wish him all the success. He has a bright future. He has good temperament and is a hard-working boy, who knows what he needs to do. He proved a perfect opening batsman in the longer format and in the IPL as well. I am pretty sure he will do well in the West Indies," Arothe added.

‘He will keep performing'

Another welcome selection was Maharashtra's Ruturaj, who played for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL. His Pune-based childhood coach Mohan Jadhav was elated when mid-day delivered to him the news of his ward's selection in the Test and ODI squads. "Aare wah in the Test team," he exclaimed. "He is deserving of this and it's good that he got a chance at the right time. Yes, it is tough to keep one's place intact, but I am confident that the way he has been working hard on his game since his childhood, he will keep performing and will be in the Test team for a long time." Meanwhile, Ruturaj's father Dashrat, said: "It is very important to be in the Test team. We were expecting it, but these things [selection] are not in our hands. Ruturaj is only concentrating on performing and he got his reward."

India's squad for West Indies tour

Tests: Rohit (captain), S Gill, R Gaikwad, V Kohli, Y Jaiswal, A Rahane (vc), KS Bharat (wk), I Kishan (wk), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, S Thakur, Axar, M Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, J Unadkat, N Saini.

ODIs: Rohit (captain), S Gill, R Gaikwad, V Kohli, Suryakumar, S Samson (wk), I Kishan (wk), H Pandya (vc), S Thakur, R Jadeja, A Patel, Y Chahal, Kuldeep, J Unadkat, M Siraj, U Malik, M Kumar.

625
No of runs scored by Yashasvi Jaiswal in this year's IPL @ 48.08