During IPL, Yashasvi Jaiswal asked his Rajasthan Royals opening partner Jos Buttler if he could take first strike. Jaiswal’s left-handed comeback was followed by three poor scores, but he soon went 4-6-4 against Punjab Kings’ Sandeep Sharma in the first over. This earned him high praise from Buttler, one of the most feared T20 ball strikers. Some batters get anxious waiting and want to face the first ball, while others just want to get on with things. However, this tactic comes with its risks since new balls in sub-continents usually swing for only one over. Despite this, Jaiswal’s early initiative has worked well for him.
Earlier this season, Delhi Capitals’ Khaleel Ahmed fell victim to Jaiswal’s onslaught as the young batter took him down with five boundaries. And, during the match against Chennai Super Kings in Jaipur, Akash Singh, a left-arm pacer, had to face Jaiswal’s early dominance, giving up three fours in the first four balls of the innings. Jaiswal’s early takedowns are fast becoming a feature of his powerplay dominance. In fact, no other batter has scored more boundaries (12) in the first over this year.
Jaiswal’s powerplay tactics this season have set him apart from his previous performances in the IPL. He has already scored more runs (304 at SR 147.5) in eight matches than in each of the previous three editions, indicating a significant improvement in his batting. His high intent and ace performance during the powerplay phase allowed him to score 186 runs, coming second only to Faf du Plessis (201).
During their match against CSK, Jaiswal and Buttler quickly scored 64 runs in the first six, 40 of them from Jaiswal’s blade with six fours and two sixes. Powerplay runs make a significant difference on pitches that slow down in the middle overs.
According to CSK skipper Dhoni, “Yashasvi batted really well. It was important to go after the bowlers, and I think he took calculated risks.” CSK coach Stephen Fleming also praised Jaiswal’s 77 (43b, 8×4, 4×6), which set up RR’s 32-run win. He called it a great innings that created momentum.
Jaiswal has been able to raise the ante without compromising his core strength, which is timing the ball. He impressed with his back-to-back cover drives against Akash Singh’s full-length balls during his first two innings. This would have made his childhood hero Sourav Ganguly proud. When Khaleel bowled short, Jaiswal went aerial from the start, while during the CSK match, he kept driving full-length deliveries, waiting for the field restrictions to be lifted before depositing Ravindra Jadeja for a six over the backward point boundary with a reverse sweep.
Buttler helped Jaiswal prepare for the match against CSK, creating a box around the batting crease and demonstrating his bat swing against full-length balls in a video posted by the Royals. Jaiswal then reproduced those shots in the nets, earning a nod of approval from Buttler.