Consecutive marks in Inter School Cricket And an exposure tour with former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar’s academy to England saw him break into Mumbai’s Under-16 team, and since then, he has been steadily climbing the ladder.
In February 2020, Jaiswal stormed into the Under-19 World Cup in South Africa, hitting five fifties. His scores read: 88, 105*, 62, 57*, 29*, 59 as he finished the tournament as the highest run-scorer (400 runs @ 133.33) with the ‘Player of the Series’ trophy in his kitbag with.
Earlier in December 2019, the Rajasthan Royals Bought him for Rs 2.4 crore IPL auction. After three IPLs with a franchise known to invest in budding cricketers, the 21-year-old is arriving in a big way.
His blistering 62-ball 124 against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday night may have ultimately been the losing cause, but Jaiswal has won hearts with his brilliant strokeplay. He was regularly losing partners at the other end, this did not bother him, although he did look a bit upset after being caught and bowled by Arshad Khan on a high full toss which he felt was There was a no ball.
On a night when RR’s big guns Jos Buttler, skipper Sanju Samson and Shimron Hetmyer were all struggling for time, Jaiswal was on fire, contributing 124 out of his team’s total of 212.
“This has got to be the best batting performance by a young Indian batsman in the history of IPL. We have seen Manish Pandey score a century; He was very young at that time. But just to watch him bat, the size of his own score compared to his team’s. This is also a big scale. A successful innings is when one person scores more than half of the team’s score. A batsman contributing for Rajasthan Royals,” praised former India batsman-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar on Star Sports.
Jaiswal is now the fifth Indian uncapped player to score a century in IPL. However, this brilliant innings was his first century in IPL. It was a solid statement from a prodigiously talented young man.
The buzz around his imminent selection in the Indian team is getting louder and louder. In fact, it should be a matter of time now before he dons the blue shirt.
It is proving to be a breakout IPL season for the left-handed opener. In 9 matches so far, Jaiswal has scored 428 runs @ 47.55 at an impressive strike rate of 159.70, and is, at the time of writing this, the holder of the highest run-scorer ‘Orange Cap’. He has hit 56 fours – the most by anyone in this edition, apart from 18 sixes – 8 of which came off his blade on Sunday night.
Even though his team was at the end of his flamboyant blade, MI skipper Rohit Sharma was effusive in his praise for Jaiswal. “I saw him (Jaiswal) last year, he took it to the next level. I asked him ‘where did you get the strength’. He said he’s going to the gym, it’s good for him, India and RR.” said Rohit in the post-match presentation.
Jaiswal thanked RR coach Zubin after scoring his maiden IPL century [Barucha for helping him out with his batting. “I enjoyed everything about my innings, I was thinking and doing everything right, while factoring the bowlers and field settings. I’ve worked a lot on his batting with Zubin sir. It’s a special innings and I’look to keep going. I wasn’t thinking of wickets and looked to focus on keeping the run rate high and get boundaries,” he said.
Talking about what mantra he has passed on to Jaiswal for this IPL season, Sri Lankan great Kumar Sangakkara, Director of Cricket at Royals, said, “[Our conversations are] It’s about playing good shots, trusting your abilities and reading the game situation really well. and when he starts about maximizing [his stay] And to carry that intent through the entire innings. Before this season, he had not batted much outside the powerplay. But today and in the last game, he showed that when he keeps his intent going and looks for boundaries and knows his scoring areas, he has the ability to play big innings for us.”
“When I got to my hundred, I didn’t know whether the ball had hit the boundary or not. So, I thanked God for everything. That was the main attraction. Such days certainly can happen. I want to focus on the process and keep working hard and have faith. I have been staying positive and maintaining a good, fit lifestyle which is helping,” Jaiswal said.
(AI picture)