Yashasvi Jaiswal has been included in the India squad for the upcoming World Test Championship (WTC) final as a stand-by player, in place of Ruturaj Gaikwad, who is getting married on June 3.
The BCCI had added Gaikwad as a stand-by opener for the WTC final against Australia, but ESPNcricinfo understands that the batter informed the board that he would be able to join the team only after June 5. As Jaiswal holds a UK visa, he will be flying to London in the next few days.
Jaiswal has been in top form in recent times. He scored 625 runs in 14 innings in IPL 2023 for Rajasthan Royals with five fifties and a century. Jaiswal is yet to make his India debut in any format but has an outstanding first-class record where he has scored 1845 runs in 15 matches, averaging 80.21 with nine hundreds and two fifties.
In the 2022-23 Ranji Trophy, he scored 315 runs in five matches, averaging 45.00, with one fifty and a century.
He followed that season up with 213 and 144 in the Irani Trophy for the Rest of India against Madhya Pradesh. His aggregate of 357 runs in the match was the most for a batter in an Irani Trophy game ever.
The India team has left for the WTC final in batches. Virat Kohli was part of one of the first few batches to reach London. The final will be played from June 7 to 11 at the Oval. India were WTC finalists in 2021 as well, but lost to New Zealand.
