Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has selected Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rinku Singh as the young batters that have impressed him in ongoing IPL 2023 and feels that the two left-handed batters can present a late case for being part of this year’s Men’s ODI World Cup in case the national side is hit by further injuries.
“One is (Yashasvi) Jaiswal, simply because of the way he’s played this season. And for me it is a marked improvement from what I saw from him last year, which is a very, very positive sign.”
“It shows that there’s a young guy prepared to work on his game, sort out things, get a more all-round game into play and he’s done that this season. Just the power with which he’s re-taking shots. Just the pockets he’s hitting around the ground as opposed to last year is very good,” said Shastri in the latest episode of The ICC Review show.
Jaiswal has been a standout batter for Rajasthan Royals with 575 runs in 13 innings, while Rinku lit up the tournament with his five straight final-over sixes for Kolkata Knight Riders against Gujarat Titans in the early part of the league stage. As of now, Rinku has amassed 407 runs in 13 innings.
“The other bloke is Rinku Singh, which is a great story. The more I see of him, that guy has got a fabulous temperament. He’s tough as nails. Both these guys have come through very hard backgrounds.”
“They’ve worked very hard initially in their lives and nothing’s come easy for them. So you can see that hunger, that passion, that drive that is so needed to make it to the top,” added Shastri, a member of the 1983 ODI World Cup winning team.
He further noted that young left-handed batters Tilak Varma, B Sai Sudharsan and right-handed finisher Jitesh Sharma, who have produced outstanding performances in IPL 2023, can also be in the mix alongside Jaiswal and Rinku. “As far as batting goes, there’s Tilak Varma, there’s Jitesh Sharma from Punjab (Kings) too who is a wicket-keeper-batter who’s pretty dangerous and has stood out.”
“There’s even Sai Sudarshan, a left-hander (who has also caught the eye). But I would put Tilak Varma, I would put Jaiswal, I’d put Rinku Singh. (They) are the candidates who can really push through along with Ruturaj Gaikwad, who’s been around for a while.”
“These are the guys who can push for selection, depending on their form closer to the World Cup. And depending on injuries. If there are injuries to any key players, then these guys can come straight away into the mix,” concluded Shastri.
