With a blistering 53 (25) against Australia, Yashasvi Jaiswal made history with the highest powerplay score by an Indian in T20Is. At just 21 years old, Jaiswal’s talent is plain to see. So what makes his game so effective?
It’s no secret that one of Jaiswal’s greatest strengths is his ability to get off to a fast start. When this is said in cricket, what this usually means is that a player gets going within their first 10 balls or so.
With Jaiswal it is much more extreme, a common occurrence in the 2023 edition of the IPL was his willingness to attack in the very first over of the innings. A fine example of this came against the Kolkata Knight Riders when Jaiswal racked up 26 runs off the first over.
The effect this has on both sides can be profound. As a bowling side you often find teams to be tentative to attack in the first over of the match, to see someone take so many risks has two major effects.
For one it makes it harder to ‘sneak through’ a sixth bowling option. In T20 cricket teams use the tension of the first over to hide a weaker bowler, Jaiswal’s aggression makes this a dangerous play.
Alternatively, it puts pressure back on opening bowlers who are used to taking wickets. With limited swing on offer, the first over is a fine chance for fast bowlers to make any early breakthrough. Quite simply it’s very unsettling to face a batter who does not seem phased by this.
In terms of his teammates, the theory too goes that Jaiswal puts his batting partner at ease. Whilst it did not entirely work as planned, Jaiswal’s partnership with Jos Buttler should be the perfect storm.
Whilst Buttler was once the master of swinging hard from ball one, his game has evolved to take a more measured approach. Buttler looks to pick up early boundaries, but focuses on kicking on a bit later by targeting weaker bowlers. The plan is that Jaiswal creates the pressure, and Buttler goes long to capitalise on it.
The final factor that makes this possible is Jaiswal’s versatility. As an opener he is comfortable hunting for runs against both pace and spin.
The aforementioned 26 run over came from the off-spin of Nitish Rana, whilst in the last week Sean Abbott’s fast bowling was taken for 24 runs. Once more, Jaiswal’s style is a headache for bowling sides as there is yet to be a clear type of bowling that he becomes more risk-averse against.
Cricket loves to throw around the word ‘fearless’, especially when it comes to batting. Yashasvi Jaiswal is a rare case where this very word is the perfect one. In his short T20I career he has established a strike rate of 175.4, and this is no fluke. For India and the Rajasthan Royals the game plan is clear, back Jaiswal all the way.
