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IPL 2023: Will Rohit take a leaf out of Imran's book and pick Jaiswal in India's ODI team?
Just three months after his ODI debut, Inzamam-ul Haq was picked for the 1992 World Cup by Imran Khan. And the rest, as they say, is history
Yashasvi Jaiswal celebrates after Rajasthan Royals' win over Kolkata Knight Riders. — AFP
From selling 'panipuri', the popular Indian snack, in the Mumbai streets to smashing the world's best bowlers in the IPL, Yashasvi Jaiswal has come a long way in a short span of time.
With a stunning 47-ball 98 against the Kolkata Knight Riders, the 21-year-old batsman has not just put the Rajasthan Royals in the driver's seat for a playoffs berth, but he has also forced his way into the Indian team reckoning in the World Cup year.
Having made his IPL debut as a precocious 18-year-old in 2020, Jaiswal is now showing the full range of shots.
With 575 runs at an astonishing strike rate of 167.15 from 12 matches, the youngster now trails Faf du Plessis, the tournament's top-scorer this season, by just one run.
Even Virat Kohli was lost for words after Jaiswal's brutal assault on the KKR bowlers when he also broke the record for the fastest half-century in the IPL, reaching the milestone in just 13 balls.
"Wow! This is some of the best batting I have seen in a while. What a talent," Kohli wrote on Instagram.
Harbhajan Singh, Kohli's former India teammate, believes it's a matter of time before Jaiswal earns his maiden India cap.
"Yashasvi Jaiswal isn't just knocking at the doors of the Indian cricket team, he seems to be breaking it with his consistently good performances," Harbhajan told Star Sports. "He's carried his imperious form of domestic cricket into IPL. What a talent he is! The future of Indian cricket is in good hands."
More importantly now in the context of the IPL, in a hit-and-miss season for English superstar Jos Buttler (392 runs from 12 matches), it's Jaiswal who is carrying the batting burden for Rajasthan Royals on his young shoulders.
If the left-handed opener can continue with the same momentum at the business end of the tournament, the national selectors might even be tempted to consider him for a place in the Indian one-day team.
With KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer suffering big injury blows it would be a great move to get Jaiswal into India's 50 overs team.
Rohit Sharma's team has bilateral ODI matches against the West Indies and Australia as well as the Asia Cup before the start of the World Cup in India on October 5.
Now the Indian fans will be itching to see if the selectors and the team management are bold enough to pick Jaiswal for those pre-World Cup ODI matches.
Critics might argue that Jaiswal is still raw, but so was Inzamam-ul Haq when Imran Khan took him to the 1992 World Cup.
Barely three months after his one-day debut, Inzamam produced an all-time classic, a majestic 37-ball 60, to script an improbable victory for Pakistan in the 1992 World Cup semifinal against co-host New Zealand.
It was an innings that has remained etched in the memory of the connoisseurs.
Inzamam was brilliant again in the final against England with a 35-ball 42, setting the tone for Pakistan's famous triumph at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground.
But Inzamam and Pakistan were lucky to have a captain as fearless as Imran.
Rohit has the same fearless streak in him when he pulls and hooks the world's fastest bowlers.
But the million-dollar question is — will he be as fearless in his role as the captain to unleash Jaiswal on the World Cup stage?
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Rituraj Borkakoty
Rituraj Borkakoty is Sports Editor and has spent more than two decades writing on his sporting heroes. He also loves an underdog story, so if you have one, share it with him. He would love to bring it to life.
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