Rajasthan Royals opener Yashasvi Jaiswal scored the fastest fifty of IPL against Kolkata Knight Riders in 13 balls.
New Delhi: Former Chennai Super Kings cricketer Suresh Raina was in complete awe of Yashasvi Jaiswal and said he would have drafted the Rajasthan Royals youngster directly into India’s 2023 ODI World Cup squad if he was a selector following the opener’s stunning 13-ball fifty against Kolkata Knight Riders on Thursday in IPL 2023.
Jaiswal, who scored his maiden IPL century in the ongoing season, continued his rich form and played a superlative knock to destroy two-time champions KKR at their own den. He scored an unbeaten 98 off 47 balls and helped Rajasthan clinch a ‘Royal’ nine-wicket win over KKR.
“If I was the Indian selector, I would have signed him today itself for the World Cup because he is in a very fresh mind. He reminds me of Virender Sehwag. I’m sure Rohit Sharma will be watching this because he will be searching for batters like him for the World Cup,” Raina said on Jio Cinema.
Notably, Jaiswal took 26 runs in the first over that KKR bowled off Nitish Rana. It was also the joint-second most expensive first over in the cash-rich league. His innings was studded with 12 fours and five sixes at an excellent strike rate of 208.51.
Raina, who was a part of the Indian squad that won the 2011 World Cup, also went on to say that Jaiswal reminds him of former Indian explosive opener Virender Sehwag as there’s a shadow of playing like him. Jaiswal has so far hammered 575 runs in just 12 matches at a mind-blowing average of 52.27.
Considering his form it will be interesting to see if the Indian management will consider young southpaw in the national team dressing room anytime soon. Currently, Rajasthan Royals are placed in third in the IPL 2023 points table and the Sanju Samson-led side will be itching to book their place for playoffs for the second time in a row.
