Numbers say Jaiswal-Abhishek better than Jaiswal-Gill in T20s

India’s T20I team is primed to welcome a fresh dimension in the upcoming week as Suryakumar Yadav takes charge as captain in Sri Lanka. The Men in Blue have also affirmed their opening slots with Shubman Gill claiming the vice-captain’s role before pairing up with Yashasvi Jaiswal.

Even as India have made their first move clear, all might not be lost for Abhishek Sharma and Ruturaj Gaikwad as they got dropped shortly after impressive performances in Zimbabwe. In Gill, Jaiswal, Abhishek and Gaikwad, India are hosting enviable riches for their future opening slots across formats. Each of them made their T20I debut over the last year and has ticked off a century already.

There is ample time and T20s before India will gear up for a title defence in 2026. According to the ICC’s Future Tours Program (FTP), India will play 33 more T20Is before the next World Cup in familiar conditions in the subcontinent. However, they would want to limber up methodically as the Indian top-order of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant during the recently concluded World Cup had never featured together previously in that order.

However, looking through the T20 spectrum, the currently available quartet could be whittled down into two starkly different subsets of aggressors and accumulators.

Gill: Ahmedabad factor and SR conundrum

Gill is presently the front-runner to make a T20I opening spot his own. Having led his opening contemporaries recently in the Zimbabwe T20Is and named vice-captain for the upcoming Sri Lanka series, the team management has seemingly backed Gill to come good in the format in due course. His overall T20I numbers are yet to sparkle, reading 505 runs in 19 innings at a 29.70 average and a 139.50 strike rate.

Gujarat Titans’ captain Shubman Gill celebrates his half century during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 T20 cricket match between Gujarat Titans and Punjab Kings at the Narendra Modi Stadium, in Ahmedabad, Thursday, April 4, 2024. (PTI Photo)

With the World Cup slated for a return to Indian conditions, the worth of IPL performances is expected to swell. Gill has dominated the batting charts in the tournament over the last two years with 1316 runs, only bettered by Kohli (1380). However, the Gujarat Titans captain’s run-scoring poses a caveat for nearly 65 per cent (856) of his runs have come at his home ground, the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

While it may be odd to highlight a batter’s home-away aggregates from the IPL, it appears that Gill’s general T20 scoring has struggled outside the venue. His first T20I fifty-plus score had also come in Ahmedabad, and he duly converted it into India’s highest individual score (126).

Since 2023, Gill has amassed 1821 runs from 48 T20 innings. However, over 51 per cent of these runs (982) were made in Ahmedabad at a stunning 75.33 average and 171.67 strike rate, including four centuries and four half-centuries. The overalls outside Ahmedabad read 839 runs in 32 innings, with a lowly 27.96 average and a 130.48 strike rate.

Gaikwad: Anchoring versatility

Gaikwad’s run-scoring traits resemble Gill as both batters are intrinsic anchors in their respective IPL teams. Gaikwad, however, exhibited a different range when he batted at no. 3 and 4 for India in successive matches against Zimbabwe in Harare, scoring 77* and 49.

Ruturaj Gaikwad (c) of Chennai Superkings celebrating his Hundred during match 39 of the Indian Premier League season 17 (IPL 2024) between Chennai Super Kings and Lucknow Super Giants held at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on the 23rd April 2024. (Photo by Saikat Das / Sportzpics for IPL)

Matching the Gill of Ahmedabad, Gaikwad enjoys a solid record at his IPL home base in Chennai. Gaikwad has scored 706 runs in 15 innings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium since 2023, averaging 58.83 while striking at 139.80 for a century and five fifties. But unlike Gill, Ruturaj’s scoring has not depreciated away from Chepauk – amassing 1209 runs in 31 innings with a wholesome 155 strike rate.

However, with at least two openers ahead of him in the pecking order, Gaikwad’s improving range in the middle-order may be the one of interest for the selectors moving forward.

Jaiswal and Abhishek: A rare LHB combo

Here is a nugget that may sound bizarre: Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist are still the most prolific (398 runs) left-handed T20I opening pair from Full-Member Nations, despite featuring in only nine matches together.

The rarity and the unorthodoxy surrounding a left-handed opening pair are remarkable, for 2719 T20Is have been played since the last time Hayden and Gilchrist walked out together on October 20, 2007!

India could find a pair in Yashasvi Jaiswal and Abhishek Sharma to emulate the sense of southpaw savagery evoked by the Aussie legends in their heyday.

Jaiswal has already stamped his class in the format. Since 2023, the 22-year-old has recorded 1945 in 56 innings – the most among all Indians – with a strike rate closing in on 160.

Even though they are yet to open the batting together, Jaiswal’s combination with Abhishek Sharma seems inevitable, given that India have finally adopted the call for aggressive batsmanship in the format.

While Jaiswal’s T20 six-hitting form is laudable (85 maximums since 2023), Abhishek has operated on a higher plane, smashing 96 sixes in 41 innings across 19 months. It is a prominent facet where Gaikwad and Gill fall behind, requiring more than 16 deliveries for a six.

For starters, India are heading the Gill-Jaiswal route, a pair that has fared well in terms of run-making with 442 in eight innings together. However, it is worth noting that a more lethal duo can be drafted in, should the team management opt to deploy true-blue aggression for Mission 2026.

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