Rajasthan Royals (RR) opener Yashasvi Jaiswal on Sunday (April 30) showed why he is touted among the finest batting talents in India.
During RR’s IPL 2023 clash against Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Wankhede Stadium, the left-handed opener smashed 124 off 62 balls, helping his team post a mammoth 212/7 on the board. His knock was studded with 16 fours and 8 sixes.
Even though the Royals ended up on the losing side, Jaiswal earned the Player-of-the-Match award for his whirlwind century.
After the game, RR Director of Cricket and head coach Kumar Sangakkara heaped praise on Yashasvi Jaiswal, saying that the southpaw is a quick learner and has the ability to excel not just for his IPL franchise but also India.
“He is not just extremely talented but also really hard-working. He has spent a lot of time in preparations, a lot of time in the nets working on his preparations,” Sangakkara said during the post-match press conference.
“He has worked on his game for three to four years with us and it shows he is very focussed, driven and the results are showing.
“He played beautifully. He batted almost entirely through the innings and it was exceptional. He has a long way to go, not just with us, but internationally. He just has to keep scoring runs and keep knocking on the door,” he added.
Jaiswal was particularly severe on Jofra Archer as he executed his cuts and pulls to perfection against MI’s pace spearhead. The 21-year-old has been the leading run-scorer in the powerplay in IPL 2023 with a strike rate of 165.69.
“It is about playing good cricket shot, trusting his ability, reading the game situation really well and when he does get a start to maximise it and get the intent going throughout the innings,” Sangakkara said.
“Before this IPL, he hasn’t batted a huge amount outside the powerplay, averaged a little low against pace but today and in the previous game as well, he has showed when he keeps his intent going, he has the ability to play big innings for us.
“He learns and keeps learning very quickly and he has a great attitude, he is very positive in everything that he does.”
Coming to the match, Mumbai Indians registered a thrilling six-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals in a high-scoring affair.
Chasing 213 to win, the hosts got over the line with three deliveries to spare thanks to an onslaught from Tim David (45* off 14). Earlier, Cameron Green (44 off 26) and Suryakumar Yadav (55 off 29) returned with dazzling knocks to set up the chase.
(With PTI Inputs)
