Yashasvi Jaiswal Frontrunner for Opener Slot at T20 World Cup: Former India Cricket Makes Prediction – News18

Yashasvi Jaiswal smashed an eye-catching 25-ball 53 against Australia in the second T20I at the Greenfield International Stadium on Sunday.

Jaiswal smashed his match-winning knock after being three off seven balls at the end of first two overs. He launched a stunning assault on Sean Abbott in the fourth over, hitting three fours and two sixes elegantly, before taking a hat-trick of fours off Nathan Ellis to reach his fifty quickly.

The youngster, in fact, made history by scoring the most runs in the powerplay for India in T20Is, smashing 53 runs off 25 balls including nine fours and two sixes. Jaiswal hence became the third Indian after Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul to score a half-century in the powerplay of a T20I.

His quickfire knock meant India were able to make 77/1 at the end of power-play and eventually amassed 235 in their 20 overs, thanks to fifties coming from bats of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ishan Kishan. In reply, Australia were kept to 191/9, thus giving India a 44-run win.

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Former India cricketer Abhishek Nayar weighed in on Yashasvi Jaiswal being a surety for the upcoming T20 World Cup.

“He (Yashasvi) has been part of the T20 set-up from the last couple of series and has constantly done well for the team. Even in Test cricket, he is someone who is evolving into a future star. So, you expect him to be in the team. It is still a fair distance away with IPL in between. But the way he is playing now, he will surely be a frontrunner for that spot,” Abhishek Nayar said.

“Today was a genius knock because he felt that the first two overs weren’t conducive for batting. When Maxwell came in to bowl, that’s when he kind of put his foot on the pedal. There was a two dimensional Yashasvi Jaiswal today where he created pace and used pace brilliantly. You could see him play towards third man, playing square of the wicket and when it required, getting the power through the on side through mid-wicket. So, all in all, a very controlled, yet aggressive innings from Jaiswal,” Nayar had said.

India are now leading Australia 2-0 in the five-match series, with the next match to be played at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on Tuesday.

(With inputs from Agencies)