The last couple of months have been quite exciting for Yashasvi Jaiswal. His cricketing career, which was anyway witnessing an upswing, has climbed to new heights in IPL 2023. The Rajasthan Royals opener was named the Emerging Player of the Year for scoring 625 runs in just 14 matches at an average of 48. While scoring all those runs at the top of the order, he maintained a strike rate of 163, which is 24 more than Jos Buttler's scoring rate this year and 11 more than his captain Sanju Samson.
Jaiswal's exploits could not take RR to the playoffs but they were enough to springboard him right at the top among emerging Indian batters. Right before curtains were drawn on IPL 2023, Jaiswal took another giant step towards achieving his ultimate dream of wearing an India cap. He was named as a stand-by player in India's World Test Championship Squad.
Jaiswal's inclusion was a last-minute decision as Ruturaj Gaikwad informed the selectors and the BCCI that he won't be able to travel with the Indian players as a reserve player as he is getting married on June 3. With the final starting on June 7, it would have been a stretch for him to join the player at The Oval in England. Hence, the selectors decided to go in with Jaiswal as a backup opener. Apart from his terrific form in first-class cricket and in the IPL, what went in the left-hander's favour was that he already had a UK visa.
On Wednesday, ICC shared a glimpse of Jaiswal's first training session with the Indian side. The Mumbai cricketer, who has had a taste of international cricket, albeit at the U19 level, faced the Indian pacers, net bowlers and spinners Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin.
{{/usCountry}}On Wednesday, ICC shared a glimpse of Jaiswal's first training session with the Indian side. The Mumbai cricketer, who has had a taste of international cricket, albeit at the U19 level, faced the Indian pacers, net bowlers and spinners Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin.
{{/usCountry}}Senior-pro Ashwin, who is also Jaiswal's teammate at RR, was seen sharing notes with the young cricketer. Jaiswal was seen playing a flurry of shots starting from where he had left in the IPL.
Towards the end of the video, Jaiswal was seen spending quality time with Virat Kohli. The former India captain was seen demonstrating batting positions to the 23-year-old.
With captain Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill confirmed as openers, there is hardly any realistic chance of Jaiswal getting to make his Test debut in the grandest stages of them all but the experience he will gather in this close to a fortnight with the senior Indian cricketers and support staff will do him a world of good.