Former India cricketer Cheteshwar Pujara has stated that young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal has been putting a bit of pressure on his veteran opening partner Rohit Sharma. His words came after Jaiswal hit a sublime century in the third ODI between India and Afghanistan in Chennai on June 20, 2026.

Thanks to Hashmatullah Shahidi’s brilliant century, Afghanistan posted 218 runs after choosing to bat first. Prasidh Krishna was the star with the ball, taking his maiden ODI fifer, with figures of 5/23 in 8.2 overs.

In response, Jaiswal and Rohit added 170 runs for the first wicket. Rohit was dismissed for 79 with 9 fours and 3 sixes, but Jaiswal continued and smashed 110* in 86 balls with 14 fours and 3 sixes as India won the game by 9 wickets in 28.4 overs and pocketed the series 3-0.

Former India star Cheteshwar Pujara has praised Yashasvi Jaiswal's game-winning knock in the third ODI against Afghanistan for meeting the team management's expectations. Pujara said that the knock might have placed some pressure on Rohit and commended Jaiswal for getting an undefeated century.

"There was an expectation from him to score runs because the team management backed him by keeping him a part of the playing XI in this match. He proved why the team management showed confidence in him. He brought improvement in the shot he got out to in the previous match. His style looks different once he gets set,” Pujara stated on JioHotstar.

"There is no comparison between Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi because Rohit also scored runs today (Saturday). However, any senior player feels the pressure, and he is creating slight pressure on Rohit Sharma. It's healthy competition for the Indian team. Rohit and Virat (Kohli) are great players, and they aren't compared with any young player, but this team is preparing replacements for the future," he added.

Yashasvi Jaiswal was commended by former India spinner Piyush Chawla as well for avoiding aerial and cut shots after learning from his previous game's error.

"He needed to play such a knock because Shubman Gill himself went to No. 3 to give Yashasvi Jaiswal a chance to open. He got out while trying to cut in the previous match. Whenever he played the cut today, he rolled his wrists and kept the ball down. It shows his mentality that he had to score big runs.

We have seen many times before that once he gets set, only big runs come from his bat, and he demonstrated this once again. He knows the template for scoring a hundred. He placed a price tag on his wicket. He knew how important this knock was," Chawla concluded.

However, a century was not enough for Yashasvi Jaiswal to convince BCCI selectors to pick him for the England ODI series, as Virat Kohli made his return for the three-match series.