[Watch] Sunil Gavaskar slots Yashasvi Jaiswal at No. 3 in India’s T20 World Cup 2024 playing XI against Ireland

Legendary Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar has made an interesting choice for his No.3 spot in the Men in Blue’s ideal T20 World Cup playing XI. He wants young Yashasvi Jaiswal to bat at No. 3, with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli opening the batting against Ireland on Wednesday, June 5.

There has been a lot of talk about whether Rohit and Kohli would open the batting as Jaiswal didn’t bat at all in their warm-up fixture against Bangladesh.

However, Gavaskar feels the youngster can do the job at No. 3 and then packed his batting line-up with the likes of Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, and the two seam-bowling all-rounders – Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube.

“I don’t really like selecting teams because you can never satisfy everybody they’ll always be somebody’s favorite player who’s not being pick but here is my effort to try and pick the 11 for the game against Ireland,” Gavaskar told Star Sports about his ideal Team India XI.

“Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to open the batting along with Yashasvi Jaiswal at three Surya Kumar Yadav at four Rishabh Pant at five at number six, I would have Hardik Pandya number seven would be Ravindra Jadeja number eight mean not necessarily in that batting order Shivam Dube,” he added.

With Ravindra Jadeja potentially coming in at No.8, Gavaskar’s team don’t lack batting depth.

Sunil Gavaskar opted for just three specialist Indian bowlers

Gavaskar selected two pacers – Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj – and the left-arm wrist-spin of Kuldeep Yadav to complement Jadeja. He expects Hardik and Dube to cover for the fifth bowler’s overs. Jaiswal could perhaps also chip in with his leg-spin if needed.

Sunil Gavakar’s India XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.