April 10 (Punjab Khabarnama) : Rajasthan Royals have had a solid start to their 2024 Indian Premier League campaign; they are the only side yet unbeaten in the season, with four wins in as many matches. However, one of the major concerns for the Royals is the form of their star opener, Yashasvi Jaiswal. The left-handed batter joined the side on the back of a phenomenal performance in the five-match Test series against England, where he ended as the highest run-getter; however, Jaiswal has failed to translate that form in the shortest format so far.
With the T20 World Cup approaching, Jaiswal’s form might be a worry for the Indian team management, and former cricketers Wasim Jaffer and Mitchell McClenaghan had a debate on how the youngster should approach his rough patch. Both, however, had different opinions.
Jaffer suggested that Jaiswal tried to be “imposing” from ball one – which is his natural game – but might as well want to take his time at the crease, and get settled before getting aggressive. The former India opener added that Jos Buttler’s return to run-scoring – he smashed a century against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in RR’s previous match – would also afford Jaiswal time to settle.
“He had a purple patch going for him for a long time. And sometimes, when you come in without much expectation, you can express yourself. Now, he’s a big name, and I feel, looking at how he’s batting, he’s trying to impose himself too early,” Jaffer told Cricbuzz.
“He needs to give himself a little bit of time, try and play conventional cricket at the start. Get himself set because the other guy on the end is Jos Buttler. You can afford to take time. It looks like, from the 3-4 games that he has played, he is taking too many risky options. When your time is not right, sometimes you can’t hold on to it.”
McClenaghan’s ‘T20 WC’ take
The former New Zealand pacer, though, wasn’t too convinced by Jaffer’s advice. McClenaghan believes Jaiswal needs to keep his aggressive game intact, as that is what Team India wants from him at the T20 World Cup, too.
“I would say before Jos’ innings the other night (that) Jaiswal was in the role that he had to go after the ball and generate the strike rate at top. Jos was struggling. Now, Jos would be good from here on, and he could take the attack. But that’s not what we would be looking for at the World Cup. That’s not what Rohit Sharma wants from his top-order batters. He wants them to take positive options, he wants them to be aggressive, he’s happy with a 30 off 15, and in that role, he is not looking for significant scores,” McClenaghan said.
He further talked about Jaiswal’s two-ball stay at the crease against RCB, pointing out the reason why he remained positive about the opener despite his early dismissal.
“Even though it was a two-ball innings, he tried to put pressure on Reece Topley. The first ball swung significantly; he tried to step out and get Topley to change his length. Unfortunately, Topley bowled a good length ball which found a top edge. He wanted to put pressure on one of their key bowlers; even then, I like him to continue the way he’s playing because that’s the style of cricket Rohit wants to see, and his team needs,” said McClenaghan.
