Few legends in the art of hard-hitting compare with that of former Sri Lankan stalwart Sanath Jayasuriya. So, his views on the emerging Indian southpaw Yashasvi Jaiswal will be highly valuable in the latter’s formative rise. Jayasuriya, a legend of explosive hitting himself, recently spoke on Yashasvi Jaiswal, particularly on the development he has seen in him and how far he has come since the initial days.
The 22-year-old has recently been hailed by Jayasuriya as an exemplary prospect for the future. He commended Jaiswal’s genuine fervour and relentless search for excellence—after he has put in a lot of effort despite going through a tough childhood. According to Jayasuriya, it is the passion and dedication of Jaiswal that will give him success, complemented by a fantastic work ethic that kept him ahead of others.
“Jaiswal is another great talent from India.”. He’s got the passion; he’s got the desire to do well. To achieve that, he has been working very hard. He’s a dedicated kid, and through that, he performs. I’ve heard about the work ethic, and it’s quite impressive. Recently we had a session with Zubin (Bharucha), the director of high performance at RR, and he told us how hard Jaiswal trains,” Sanath Jayasuriya told TOI in an exclusive interview.
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How would he take on a bowler like the pace-bowling maestro for India, Jasprit Bumrah, I asked. Jayasuriya’s response was balanced and mature. He acknowledged that Bumrah is amazingly consistent in his bowling and it does command respect as a unique and difficult opponent.
Sanath Jayasuriya has underlined the fact that as much as Bumrah should be respected on his prime days, which are pretty frequent, he is not at his best on other days, and those are the days batsmen need to capitalize on.
“He (Bumrah) is a different kind of bowler. We need to respect him and his skills. On his day, you’ll need to respect him but then there are days when he is not up to the mark and it’s on those days you need to capitalize. Bowlers like him are on top because they have clear thinking in what they want to execute,” added Sanath Jayasuriya.
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Jasprit Bumrah won’t feature in either leg of the Sri Lankan tour, as selectors have decided to give the pacer some time off owing to workload management concerns. At the same time, Jaiswal is expected to turn up for the Men in Blue and may be seen opening alongside the vice-captain Shubman Gill. This would, therefore, turn out to be a fine opportunity for Jaiswal to really seal his place in the team, where he has already been praised by one of cricket’s legends as having potential.
