3 reasons why Yashasvi Jaiswal replacing Ruturaj Gaikwad as reserve for WTC final is the right move

Youngster Yashasvi Jaiswal has taken another giant stride in his career with his call-up to the Indian team as a standby for the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia in place of Ruturaj Gaikwad.

The final squads for the contest to be played at The Oval in London from June 7 were locked in on Sunday, May 28, and Jaiswal was named as one of three reserves in the Indian squad, with Mukesh Kumar and Suryakumar Yadav being the others.

According to reports, Gaikwad is set to tie the knot in the first week of June, owing to which he was unavailable for the WTC final. This opens up a great opportunity for Jaiswal, who has been knocking on the selectors' doors with consistent runs across all formats of domestic cricket.

Even though he is yet to play an international game, everything about his selection seems right.

Here, we look at three reasons why Jaiswal replacing Gaikwad as a reserve for India's WTC final clash against Australia is the right move:

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#1 Yashasvi Jaiswal's recent form across formats

Jaiswal will head into the WTC final against Australia on the back of an outstanding IPL season where he tallied 625 runs at an average of 48.08 for Rajasthan Royals (RR).

While the format is completely different, it is important to note that he has been showing this rich vein of form across all formats in domestic cricket. Having scored truckloads of runs for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy apart from scores of 213 and 144 in the Irani Cup against Madhya Pradesh, he has been in as rich a purple patch as a batter has been in recent times.

Clearly, it is important for India to strike when the iron is hot and they've done just that with Jaiswal. There possibly wasn't a better time to integrate him into the setup with Gaikwad's absence opening up a spot in the reserves for the southpaw.

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#2 His penchant for big runs

A glance at Jaiswal's numbers in first-class cricket and you realize they are mindboggling. In 15 matches in the format, he has racked up 1845 runs with two fifties and a staggering nine hundreds, including a personal best of 265.

Couple an average of 80.21 to go with this and you can see just why he has the hunger for big runs in red-ball cricket. While one has been more accustomed to seeing him strike the ball a long way in T20 cricket, those who have witnessed him go about his work in red-ball cricket can attest to these statistics and how technically and temperamentally sound he remains.

Draw a parallel with Gaikwad's first-class numbers and despite having played just over half the games, Jaiswal holds a clear edge. Gaikwad has scored 1941 runs so far in 28 matches at an average of 42.19 with nine half-centuries and six hundreds.

Quite clearly, Jaiswal's selection for the WTC final against Australia is a step in the right direction.

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#3 Right time to look into the future

The Indian Test batting lineup has a number of players who are on the wrong side of their thirties. Such has been the failure to groom sufficient backups that Shreyas Iyer's injury has forced the selectors to return to Ajinkya Rahane for the WTC final, owing to a lack of experience among the other middle-order options.

Aside from Shubman Gill, the rest of the top and middle-order could well be on its last leg, and with Rishabh Pant sidelined for a decent period of time, it is important to look into the future and ensure the transition into the next core of Indian Test batting is a smooth one.

To that end, having Jaiswal in and around the setup is a good way to go so as to get him ready for this level even faster.

While time will tell if he has the wherewithal to go the distance on the international circuit, being a part of a game as momentous as the WTC final surely ought to accelerate his development.

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What do you make of Yashasvi Jaiswal replacing Ruturaj Gaikwad as a reserve for the WTC final? Have your say in the comments section below!

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