Former Indian cricketer and commentator Aakash Chopra has asserted that there will be a toss-up between Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad for reserves for the ODI World Cup 2027 in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
Both Jaiswal and Gaikwad are part of India’s ODI squad for the West Indies series. Jaiswal has accumulated 285 runs in six ODIs at an average of 71.25, including two centuries and a best score of 116 not out. Gaikwad has scored 228 runs in nine ODIs at an average of 28.50, with a century and a fifty to his name.
“You have to think about who you can take along as reserves for the World Cup. So, there will be a toss-up here between Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad, who are both part of this team, and whenever they have played, they have scored a lot of runs. So, I am looking at an opportunity opening up for one of these two. Auqib Nabi has been travelling with the team for some time now, but is not getting a chance to play in the XI. If he gets his opportunity, I will be quite excited to see him perform,” Chopra said, speaking on JioHotstar’s ‘Follow the Blues’.
Further, the former Indian opening batter advised the Indian talismanic batting duo of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to keep scoring runs during India’s plans of the World Cup 2027.
“The World Cup is just one year away now, and I know that if Rohit and Kohli get in, they will score runs, win you matches, and possibly win you trophies. So, looking at it from this perspective, the only expectation from Rohit and Kohli is just this: keep scoring runs,” he added.
India’s ODI team vs WI: Shubman Gill [C], Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KL Rahul [VC], Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Mohammed Siraj, Auqib Nabi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Naman Dhir.
