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The Rajasthan Royals have emerged as the early frontrunners in IPL 2024, boasting a perfect record of four wins from four matches. However, a slight wrinkle has appeared in their otherwise smooth run – the form of their young opener, Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Jaiswal arrived at the IPL fresh off a dominant performance in the Test series against England, where he topped the run charts. Unfortunately, his red-hot form hasn't translated into the shorter format. With the T20 World Cup looming, Jaiswal's struggles have sparked concern among the Indian team management.
Former cricketers Wasim Jaffer and Mitchell McClenaghan offered contrasting advice on how Jaiswal should navigate this rough patch.
Wasim Jaffer believes Jaiswal's natural style is to be aggressive from the start, which has served him well. However, Jaffer suggests Jaiswal might benefit from a slight adjustment in his approach. He recommends Jaiswal take some time to settle in at the crease before unleashing his power hitting. Jaffer also highlights the positive impact of Jos Buttler's recent century against Royal Challengers Bangalore. With a strong opening partner in form, Jaiswal could have more freedom to build his innings without feeling pressured to score quickly.
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“He had a purple patch going for him for a long time. And sometimes, when you come in without much expectation, you can express yourself. Now, he's a big name, and I feel, looking at how he's batting, he's trying to impose himself too early,” Jaffer told Cricbuzz.
“He needs to give himself a little bit of time, try and play conventional cricket at the start. Get himself set because the other guy on the end is Jos Buttler. You can afford to take time. It looks like, from the 3-4 games that he has played, he is taking too many risky options. When your time is not right, sometimes you can't hold on to it.”
McClenaghan takes a different stance
Former New Zealand fast bowler Mitchell McClenaghan disagrees with Jaffer's suggestion. McClenaghan believes Jaiswal shouldn't tamper with his aggressive style, as that's precisely what the Indian team values in him for the upcoming T20 World Cup. He suggests Jaiswal might need to find a way to adapt his aggression to the shorter format while maintaining his core strength.
“I would say before Jos' innings the other night (that) Jaiswal was in the role that he had to go after the ball and generate the strike rate at top. Jos was struggling. Now, Jos would be good from here on, and he could take the attack. But that's not what we would be looking for at the World Cup. That's not what Rohit Sharma wants from his top-order batters. He wants them to take positive options, he wants them to be aggressive, he's happy with a 30 off 15, and in that role, he is not looking for significant scores,” McClenaghan said.
While disagreeing with Jaffer's advice, McClenaghan remains optimistic about Jaiswal's ability to overcome this slump. He cites Jaiswal's dismissal against Royal Challengers Bangalore, where he was dismissed after only two balls, as an example. Despite the early exit, McClenaghan suggests there might be reasons to be positive about the young opener's approach. He doesn't elaborate on the specific reasons in this excerpt, but perhaps he sees glimpses of the right mindset in Jaiswal's brief time at the crease.
“Even though it was a two-ball innings, he tried to put pressure on Reece Topley. The first ball swung significantly; he tried to step out and get Topley to change his length. Unfortunately, Topley bowled a good length ball which found a top edge. He wanted to put pressure on one of their key bowlers; even then, I like him to continue the way he's playing because that's the style of cricket Rohit wants to see, and his team needs,” said McClenaghan.
Notably, Jaiswal has only managed to score 39 runs in his four IPL 2024 matches so far. RR are currently undefeated, but Jaiswal will be eager to find his form when they face a struggling Gujarat Titans team on April 10. He'll be hoping to silence his critics with a strong performance at the crease.
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