NEW DELHI: Yashasvi Jaiswal is winning hearts with his breakthrough performances in the ongoing Indian Premier League season and the latest to heap praise on the young batter is former South Africa captain Graeme Smith, who called the Rajasthan Royals opener an incredible performer.
Smith added that Jaiswal is knocking the national team door with all ferocity, having already scored 575 runs in IPL 2023.
"He (Jaiswal) has been incredible. Watched his domestic performances and growth in his game from last season. The natural ability to find gaps and increased his strength on leg side and hasn't got out to spin which is a huge positive," Smith told PTI during an interaction.
"...and he has got a pretty good all-round game, but when you speak to him what comes out is that he is very determined. He takes a lot in his stride and there's pressure now on him to get higher honours and the way he is handling is superb."
1/8:Yashasvi Jaiswal scripts history, slams fastest half-century in IPL
2/8:Fastest IPL half-century by Jaiswal
<p>Rajasthan Royals opener Yashasvi Jaiswal etched his name in the record books by smashing the fastest half-century in just 13 balls in the history of Indian Premier League (IPL).</p>ANI
3/8:Milestone for Jaiswal
<p>Jaiswal achieved this feat in the IPL 2023 match against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Eden Gardens.<br /><br /></p>IANS
4/8:Quickest IPL fifty
<p>Jaiswal reached the quickest fifty of IPL with the help of six fours and three sixes.<br /><br /></p>PTI
5/8:Previous joint-fastest fifty holders
<p>The milestone was previously jointly held by KL Rahul and Pat Cummins who had scored a fifty in 14 balls.<br /><br /></p>
6/8:Third fastest fifties
<p>Yusuf Pathan, Nicholas Pooran, Sunil Narine and Kieron Pollard jointly held the third spot with a fifty in 15 balls.<br /><br /></p>
7/8:Second player to surpass 500+ runs in this season
<p>Jaiswal has also now become the second player after Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Faf du Plessis to amass 500+ runs in IPL 2023.<br /><br /></p>IANS
8/8:1000 runs for Jaiswal
<p>Earlier in the season, Jaiswal became the joint-second fastest Indian to hit 1000 IPL runs, reaching the milestone in just 34 innings.<br /></p>IANS"In terms of getting selected (in the Indian team), he is certainly knocking down the door with performances and that's all he can do. Indian cricket is blessed to have so many options. India has Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill and selectors have some nice headaches as he (Jaiswal) has certainly put his name right there in conversation."
Smith, a former director of Cricket South Africa, also feels that BCCI and national selectors need to have a clear cut policy for T20 team and also decide on some senior stars' future in the shortest format.
"One thing Indian cricket needs to decide is the strategy on senior players and in T20 cricket what is their strategy going forward with white ball tourney every year. I think the area that is starting to look strong is middle-order with Tilak Verma, SKY and Jitesh, you have got a lot of power players.
"With (skipper) Hardik (Pandya) as an all-rounder, the middle order looks powerful and the big call will be the future of senior players," he said.
Virat Kohli (IANS Photo)
'Virat can look to sweep spinners as scoring option'
Smith wants Virat Kohli to use different scoring options like the sweep shot against spinners post powerplay after the star India batter's "taking the game deep" approach has come under a bit of criticism.
Kohli has scored more than 400 runs opening the innings for Royal Challengers Bangalore in this IPL at a strike rate of 133-plus but he has not been able to force the pace of scoring in the middle overs.
"It is difficult to say if someone has been such a great batter. A couple of things that stand out for me are the Indian batters around Virat at RCB and they are way short," Smith said.
"I think the middle-order has struggled after No. 3. They have tried a few combinations. Then at Nos 5 and 6, they have struggled and pressure has been put on Virat (Kohli), Faf (du Plessis) and (Glenn) Maxwell to be main performers. If RCB can find some areas of support, it can free up Virat even more," Smith added.
Unlike Mumbai Indians batter Suryakumar Yadav, who is a fine exponent of playing the sweep shot, Kohli's scoring areas are more traditional.
"We know Virat doesn't sweep much against spin and he pretty much plays down the ground. And if you had to set fields, probably you can do so and control his boundary count after the six overs and that may be an area he can assess."
Smith agreed with his one-time rival Ricky Ponting that there is no place for anchor batters, especially in Indian conditions.
"Look, I agree with Ricky in terms of his sentiment. The only thing I would add is that conditions need to be taken into account. In India, there is no place for anchor batters and scores in this IPL have been high and even higher with Impact Players and sometimes needing 215, 220 to be in the game," he said.
"The way the game has changed, I think Powerplay is slightly more manageable as there are more fielders in the ring. As soon as the field is spread and spinners come into play, people like SKY have changed the game and they are so dynamic that they score all over the ground. They sweep and make it difficult as they are mentally ready to take on the game all the time."
(With inputs from PTI)
