India vs West Indies in New Chandigarh: Will Siraj, Jaiswal get game time in ODI series finale?

Mohammed Siraj and Yashasvi Jaiswal (ANI Photo)

NEW CHANDIGARH: After the third ODI against West Indies here on Saturday, India play another 11 ODIs this winter before they step into the World Cup year. The schedule between the IPL and their first game of the World Cup on Oct 7, 2027 hasn’t been announced yet.The team management has just started carrying out experiments to arrive at a settled core of players as per the conditions expected in South Africa. Thus, the awkward questions have popped up again. Will Yashasvi Jaiswal get a game at the top of the order? Will Mohammed Siraj be given another shot at regaining his form with the new ball?

The selectors and the team management have been cold in picking players as per assignments.

As for Jaiswal, they have been spending sleepless nights over giving him enough exposure as a backup opener to Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill. They managed to find him a place in the third ODI against Afghanistan in June when captain Gill decided to step down the order and bat at No.3. Like that game, Saturday’s match too is a dead rubber with India already having sealed the series 2-0.

As for Siraj, it is understood the team management has lost faith in him after he struggled in the Test series in Sri Lanka in Aug.

TOI understands he was conveyed he wasn’t going to get a game in the series when he joined the team before the first ODI. He has been made to go through extensive fitness routines. With Prasidh Krishna ruled out due to injury, logic dictates a senior pacer like Siraj must get a look-in unless the team management decides to go with Auqib Nabi, Gurnoor Brar and Nitish Kumar Reddy as their seam-bowling choices.The anxiety within the team management stems from the lack of quality ODIs left before the World Cup. While condemning the pitch for the run fest in the previous game in Guwahati, head coach Gautam Gambhir subtly hinted that the six home ODIs this season — three each against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe — can’t be considered the perfect yardstick to judge the form of players.