On a day when a 15-year-old prodigy shook the world with a six off the first-ever ball he faced from Jasprit Bumrah, a past prodigy shook up the entire Mumbai Indians attack and reminded everyone that he hasn’t gone away. That 15-year-old prodigy is, of course, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. In case you’ve forgotten, that past prodigy is Yashasvi Jaiswal, who is now 24.
Sooryavanshi’s arrival, Abhishek Sharma’s surge to the No.1 T20I ranking and Sanju Samson’s hat-trick of half-centuries in India’s run to the T20 World Cup title may all be fresh in your memory. Just to refresh your memory: Jaiswal had crashed the IPL’s fastest fifty, off 13 balls, in 2023 before Sooryavanshi, Abhishek and Samson all carved a niche for themselves in Indian cricket.
In a rain-hit 11-over shootout on Tuesday, Jaiswal put his own record in danger when he blitzed his way to 35 off nine balls. Though he slowed down briefly to miss the record, he put his pedal to the floor again and finished with an unbeaten 77 at over two runs a ball. Jaiswal’s strike rate of 240.62 was his highest in a T20 innings (where he has faced 25 or more balls).
Rain had delayed the start of this game by nearly three hours and the Guwahati pitch had been under covers for a longer period in the lead-up to the match. Similar conditions in the opening fixture of the season in Guwahati had resulted in a Test-match style passage of play last week, when Chennai Super Kings collapsed against Rajasthan Royals. Jaiswal, however, didn’t let any of these elements cloud his intent.
In a short game, he was looking to go big every ball. He went 4,6,4,0,4,4 off Deepak Chahar in the first over. The first ball was a loosener: a hip-high delivery outside off, which was duly swatted away to the midwicket boundary. The second was anything but a loosener. It was on a Test-match length on off. It’s the kind of delivery that used to be knocked into the leg side, especially back in the day. In this uber-attacking era of T20 cricket, there are no finishers and everyone is going at the rate of knots, as CSK coach Stephen Fleming put it.
Jaiswal opened up his hips, picked this good ball up and made it look like a bad one by heaving it away over midwicket. Chahar then went searching for the outswinger and though he got the ball to move away slightly, Jaiswal reached out for it and carved it over point for four more.
Four balls into a 11-over game, MI had no option but to turn to death bowling. The yorker didn’t come off for Chahar. It came out as a full-toss, which was pumped over mid-off for another four. Chahar then under-pitched his last ball and though it was not exactly a slot ball, Jasiwal opened the face of his bat and pierced the gap between cover and cover-point with pinpoint precision.
The 22-run first over set the mood and tempo for the rest of the innings. For all of MI’s bowling depth and variety, they failed to stop Jaiswal though their captain Hardik Pandya set him back briefly with some length and pace variations.
But when Bumrah changed his length and marginally missed his yorker, Jaiswal sat deep in the crease and launched him over his head. AM Ghazanfar’s mystery spin was also biffed down the ground.
Jaiswal has always been good at accessing the traditional ‘V’. This season, he has also actively explored the other ‘V’ behind the wicket. He has made just three trips to the crease so far, but has already played as many scoops (three) as he’s done in a single season and played more ramps (four) than he’s played in a single season, according to ESPNcricinfo’s logs.
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When Shardul Thakur banged a slower short ball outside off in the final over of the first innings, Jaiswal shuffled across and ended up flopping across off stump, but still managed to scoop the ball over short fine leg. It was a clear sign that he is broadening his range.
“I think it [playing all formats] is not easy, but I am trying my best,” Jaiswal said after winning the Player-of-the-Match award. “Every single time when I go into my preparation, I feel like what I can do, how I can improve. And make sure that I am developing different shots.
“So all the time I try to play different shots and try to understand what shots [work] in what wicket. So it always helps me when I prepare well.”
Jasiwal may have been a shoo-in for the opening spot in most T20 teams. But India are not most T20 teams. They already have Abhishek and Samson at the top, with Ishan Kishan at No. 3. Shubman Gill didn’t even make the T20 World Cup squad. There’s already a chorus for Sooryavanshi to be pitchforked into the side (now that he’s 15 and eligible to play internationals).
Jaiswal has been the outside looking in. He’s now doing everything he can to get a look-in.
