Yashasvi Jaiswal is still finding his feet in ODIs after limited List A games in the last three years, but it is something he can't afford, writes Sarah Waris.
Around two years ago, I had picked Yashasvi Jaiswal as one of India’s next batting superstars, and it had not felt like a bold claim. He was part of a small group of six Indian players under 25 with strike rates exceeding 135 in T20s while also averaging above 40 in both List A and first-class cricket.
Two years on, that prophecy stands only half-fulfilled. In Test cricket, he has become one of the most exciting batters of this generation, topping Wisden’s Best 40 Young Players in the World and averaging 49.23 after 28 Tests. He has made a record start to his career, adapting well across various conditions and blending freedom with maturity.
Yet, his T20I and ODI journeys have taken different paths. He has played 23 T20Is, striking at 164.31, but has still been pushed out of the XI in favour of Shubman Gill, a choice that continues to bewilder given his unconvincing T20I profile. He has featured in only three ODIs, all in 2025, each coming as a late call-up, in a format once seen as his most natural fit. His List A average of 50.51 pointed to a batter who could hold an innings together while still playing his strokes, qualities he had already shown in the other formats.
However, the opportunities have barely existed, with Gill and Rohit Sharma forming a successful pair at the top of the order. Gill averages 58.20 in ODIs, the second-highest among batters with 2,000 runs, while Rohit, one of India’s finest white-ball batters, was also the captain till not very long ago. In such a scenario, when the talent pool is crowded and the window is slim, the chances that come must be seized emphatically. Jaiswal had the opportunity when Gill was ruled out of the ongoing South Africa series due to injury.
Jaiswal’s twin innings against South Africa do little for him
Jaiswal’s two innings against South Africa have, unfortunately, not quite done that. His scores – 18 off 16 in the first ODI and 22 off 38 in the second – tell only part of the story.
In the first ODI, Jaiswal began with a crackling square cut off Marco Jansen, added a fine guided boundary off Nandre Burger, and muscled a swivelled six over deep backward square. Yet the ball-by-ball record showed long stretches of uncertainty: leaves outside off, defensive prods, and beaten edges, along with attempts of a stroke too many. The dismissal reflected his discomfort: Burger drew him forward with a length ball in the corridor, the angle straightened, and a thin edge carried to Quinton de Kock.
The second ODI was slower. His 22 off 38 came at a strike rate of 57, against an innings run rate of 7.16. The partnership with Virat Kohli never settled into a rhythm, partly because Jaiswal struggled to rotate strike. Against Burger, he repeatedly shouldered arms to fuller outswingers; against Ngidi, he defended with a closed-off stance and found fielders consistently; and against Maharaj, he attempted two reverse-sweeps in three balls, neither of which was convincing. The dismissal came against the short ball: a shoulder-high bouncer from Jansen outside off that he tried to pull without quite getting into position.
Both innings displayed a trend: long stretches of dot balls were followed abruptly by boundary attempts, without much intention to rotate the strike. There were repeated sequences of plays-and-misses, and pauses in scoring that were interrupted occasionally by an aggressive release shot. It gave his batting the rhythm of a T20 innings, a format he knows far better and has played far more often, rather than the steadier template the 50-over game demands. The short ball (and the left-arm quicks) continued to trouble him, and his dismissals underlined that uncertainty.
Yet, there is an important caveat, one that must not be ignored. This is not really Jaiswal’s fault.
He has played only 35 List A matches since debuting in 2019, and remarkably, before this year, his last outing in the format came in 2022. His Test commitments routinely clash with the Vijay Hazare Trophy, and ODI cricket is the one format where the rhythm of accumulation, risks and strike rotation can only be learnt through regular exposure.
In contrast, Ruturaj Gaikwad’s hundred in the second ODI was a lesson in tempo: 105 off 83 balls, a strike rate of 126.51, built not on boundary-hitting alone but on rapid, intelligent running with Kohli. Gaikwad has played 14 List A games since December 2024; the difference in match readiness and familiarity with the format showed.
Jaiswal is still adjusting. His ability is not in question, for his records indicate a player well equipped to succeed in this format, but without an extended run in the XI and with limited List A cricket in recent seasons, the learning curve has been steeper than expected.
With no Tests scheduled for India this season, he could well play this year's Vijay Hazare Trophy, perhaps finally giving him the match time he has missed. For now, though, in a format where chances are limited and competition is intense, his two outings against South Africa have not made his case any easier.
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