• Home
  • Cricket Analysis
  • Gill Jaiswal Or Abhishek Jaiswal Which Pair Will Be More Suited For Indias T20i Future

Gill-Jaiswal Or Abhishek-Jaiswal? Which Pair Will Be More Suited For India's T20I Future?

Probuddha Bhattacharjee

Shubman Gill, Yashashvi Jaiswal and Abhishek Sharma [X]Shubman Gill, Yashashvi Jaiswal and Abhishek Sharma [X]

The Indian team had a great 2024 as they won the T20 World Cup under the leadership of Rohit Sharma in the West Indies and the USA. India used Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli as the openers in the tournament, and the two experienced campaigners did a great job. 

But as it stands now, a new era in Indian cricket is ushering under the guidance of Head coach Gautam Gambhir and the newly appointed T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav. Standing at this juncture, the India team will be looking for a new opening duo. 

The names in contention for the spot are that of Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal. Let us analyse the stats of these three players and see which two of these will be the best pair at the top for India. 


Jaiswal vs Gill vs Abhishek | Strike rate in powerplays

Player
Strike Rate
Yashasvi Jaiswal153.02
Shubman Gill126.57
Abhishek Sharma151.13


In an era where the teams look for a powerful start, the openers need to strike at more than 150 at the least. A look at the records shows us that, barring Shubman Gill, both Jaiswal and Abhishek Sharma have a strike rate of over 150. As far as the scoring rate in powerplays is concerned, Jaiswal and Sharma seem a better pair for India in the future.


Jaiswal vs Gill vs Abhishek | Boundary Percentage in Power plays

Player
Boundary %
Yashasvi Jaiswal
26.52
Shubman Gill
19.35
Abhishek Sharma25.87

The powerplays are the best time for the openers to gather as many boundaries as possible and increase the scoring rate of the team, as only two fielders are allowed outside the ring during the phase. The greater the percentage of boundaries a batter hits during this stage, the less impact the dot balls have on the scoreboard. 

The above table shows that Shubman Gill has the least boundary percentage in the first six overs among the three batters. A deeper examination reveals that Gill has the least dot% in among the three in power plays. 

If we correlate these two facts, we reach the inference that though Gill rotates the strikes and tries to scoreboard ticking, his presence in the middle might slow the team down as there are not enough boundaries coming from his part. While there is no fault in the way he is batting, it seems a bit outdated, considering the demands of modern cricket. 


Jaiswal vs Gill vs Abhishek - Applicability to the team

Well, the third factor that speaks in favour of using Abhishek Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal as the opening pair in T20I cricket is not related too much to batting. Both Sharma and Jaiswal can roll their arms over and add depth, flexibility, and dynamism to the team composition. 

A look at the overall applicability of the players as per the demands of modern cricket, it seems that going with Yashasvi Jaiswal and Abhishek Sharma will be the better option for India in the future.