The southpaw last played a T20I match for India in July 2024 against Sri Lanka at Pallekele.
Former England skipper Kevin Pietersen was left baffled with Yashasvi Jaiswal’s omission from the India’s Asia Cup 2025 squad. Jaiswal, who was the part of India’s 2024 T20 World Cup-winning squad, was ignored for the T20I side despite his stunning form across formats.
During a Q&A session on X, Pietersen was asked for his thoughts on the omission, to which he replied: “Strange omission! Yash is a major star!”
The southpaw last played a T20I match for India in July 2024 against Sri Lanka at Pallekele. Since then, he remained unavailable due to India’s packed Test schedule and eventually lost his opening spot from the T20I team.
The 23-year-old was in a great touch during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, where he racked up 559 runs, averaging 43 while striking at 159.71. The left-hand batter had also scored 435 and 625 runs in the past two seasons.
Jaiswal also has amazing T20I record, having amassed 723 runs in only 22 innings, including a hundred, striking at 164.31. He also enjoyed huge success in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025, amassing 411 runs in five Tests, with two hundreds. Despite this consistency, Jaiswal was overlooked for the Asia Cup which will be followed by the T20 World Cup 2026 in India.
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The competition for the opening spot in India’s T20 setup is fierce, with established names such as Shubman Gill, Sanju Samson Samson competing alongside Abhishek Sharma and Jaiswal. India can’t afford to choose more than three openers, and the selection committee opted for Abhishek, Samson and Gill. Abhishek and Samson have been exceptional for India and have provided fiery opening stands, leaving room for just one more player.
Shubman Gill, who was recently named India’s Test captain, has been appointed as Suryakumar Yadav’s deputy in T20Is. Being vice-captain, Gill is likely to make a direct entry in India’s playing XI, with the Kerala batter most likely to make a way for him or move down to No.3.
Samson, who scored 417 runs in last 12 matches, striking at 183.70 with three hundreds, could also face the heat with in-form wicketkeeper batter Jitesh Sharma waiting for his opportunity.
Gill and Jaiswal last played a T20I game for India against Sri Lanka at Pallekele in July 2024. Like Jaiswal, Gill, who amassed 650 runs in IPL 2025, didn’t feature in T20Is since then. However, Gill’s appointment strongly indicates the team management’s long-term vision of grooming him for leadership across formats.
For now, the Suryakumar Yadav-led side will look to find the right combination to go with in the T20 World Cup, scheduled next year in February in India. The defending champions will commence their Asia Cup campaign against UAE on September 10, followed by the match against arch-rivals Pakistan and Oman on September 14 and 19 respectively.
