Pressure on Gill? Yashasvi Jaiswal cracks 48-ball ton in successful SMAT chase of 235

Yashasvi Jaiswal leads Mumbai to massive chase

Mumbai conceded 234 against Haryana at the DY Patil Academy in Ambi, Pune after putting them in to bat. Captain Ankit Kumar top-scored with a 42-ball 89. But the massive total could do little to stop Mumbai from acing the chase with ease.

Jaiswal and Ajinkya Rahane took them off to an absolute flyer, reaching 53-0 in the first three overs when Rahane departed for 21 off 10. Sarfaraz Khan joined Jaiswal and carried on in the same vein. The pair added 88 runs for the second wicket in just 37 balls, with Sarfaraz doing the bulk of the scoring. After he was dismissed for a 25-ball 64 at the team score of 141-2 in 9.2 overs, Jaiswal took over the charge.

The left-hander had reached his first fifty in 23 balls, and took another 28 to go from 50 to hundred even as wickets kept falling at the other end. Jaiswal was dismissed soon after reaching his century, for 101 off 50 balls, by Samant Jakhar. Interestingly, Jakhar had been retired out in the first innings after playing four consecutive dot balls to go from 31 off 10 to 31 off 14.

Mumbai needed only seven more runs for victory when they lost Jaiswal's wicket, which they scored in just two more balls, overhauling the target with 15 balls remaining.

Mumbai vs Haryana scorecard:

Will this ton help Jaiswal break into the Indian T20I side?

Jaiswal has played 23 T20Is so far, and was part of the 2024 T20 World Cup winning squad, even though he didn't get to play a game. However, since the last T20 World Cup, he has played only six T20Is, as India have backed Shubman Gill to be Abhishek Sharma's partner at the top of the order. But Gill has blown hot and cold as a T20I opener (more cold than hot lately), with calls for him being replaced by Jaiswal growing by the minute.

Also read: Time to end the Shubman Gill T20I trial – it costs India too much

Overall, Gill averages 28.03 and strikes at 140.40 in T20Is, compared to Jaiswal's average and strike rate of 36.15 and 164.31 respectively. This year has been particularly tough for Gill, where he has averaged 23.90 and hasn't gone past 50 even once in 14 innings. In the ongoing series against South Africa, Gill's scores in the first two games have been 4 and 0.

Jaiswal hasn't been included in the squad for the South Africa T20Is, which means even if Gill - who is also the vice-captain of the side - gets dropped mid-way through the series, Jaiswal is unlikely to feature. India only have five more T20Is after this, against New Zealand, before their 2026 T20 World Cup campaign begins.

Also read: India are creating their own cracks in a once-invincible T20 side

While there's a solid case for Jaiswal being tried out at the top - one that has only been strengthened by this hundred: the lack of time before the marquee event could work against him as the Indian think tank might not want to risk experimenting this close to the tournament.

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