Indian youngster Yashasvi Jaiswal batted with Virat Kohli for the first time in an ODI and he scored his first century in ODI cricket. Yashasvi is now one of the few Indian players to score centuries in all three formats of the game. He has admitted how batting with Kohli helped him reach his target.
India have never celebrated a bilateral series win like they did in the hard-fought home series against South Africa. Chasing a huge score in Raipur, South Africa gave a tough fight to India and leveled the series.
Going into Visakhapatnam, India won their first toss after 20 ODI matches and also their first toss since the 2023 ODI World Cup semi-finals. KL Rahul’s decision to bowl first paid off as dew played a huge role in India’s victory in the last match of the series.
After the third ODI, Yashasvi Jaiswal said, “It was amazing to bat with Virat paaji.”
Yashasvi Jaiswal opened the innings with Rohit Sharma in the ODI series after Shubman Gill was injured, but he could not convert his short starts into any promising results in the first two ODIs in Ranchi and Raipur.
Instead, they came back strongly to crush South Africa’s remaining hopes in the final game in Vizag. With 116*, Jaiswal not only scored his maiden ODI century but also led India to a stunning 9-wicket win.
Talking about his time at the crease with Virat Kohli, he said that it was amazing to bat with him and since his arrival he took the pressure off the young batsman. He also told that Kohli talks to the young cricketer regularly.
Yashasvi Jaiswal said, “Batting with Virat Paaji was amazing. As soon as Paaji came, he started playing a lot of shots and we also kept chatting, which gave me small goals that I needed to focus on, which helped me a lot and helped me move towards my goal.”
Yashasvi Jaiswal joins elite list of Indian cricketers after Visakhapatnam century
There have been only a few cricketers in India who have crossed the century mark in all three formats of the game. Ever since the T20I format started, many great players of the game have played in this format for India.
However, among the cricketers who scored centuries in all three formats of the game, only players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Suresh Raina and Shubman Gill were included. Now, Yashasvi Jaiswal has also joined the elite list of Indian cricketers with the same record.
Who will be selected for the New Zealand series after the return of Yashasvi Jaiswal or Ruturaj Gaikwad-Shubman Gill?
Both Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad were selected for the South Africa series due to injuries to Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer. However, both players took advantage of these opportunities and scored a century each in the series.
With some degree of determination, both deserve a place in the Indian team for India’s next ODI series against New Zealand as well, but Shubman Gill has confirmed his comeback in the South Africa T20I and hence is likely to play the ODI series against New Zealand.
Now, with Gill back as captain, he is irreplaceable when fit, hence, it is most likely that Ruturaj Gaikwad will get another chance in the upcoming series, but for Yashasvi, the wait continues.
Also read: The news of differences between Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir has been confirmed by the heated exchange after the ODI series win.
