The South African batting legend gave a nod of approval to India's successful young debutant after a marathon 171 in the Dominica Test.
The shine of Yashasvi Jaiswal’s talent and promise seems to have gone places and won hearts all over the globe. While the selectors and the management approve of the Indian left-hander as one of the most bright young talents in the modern game, Jaiswal probably earned the highest nod for his abilities from the legendary AB de Villiers, who applauding him as a “special” talent.
De Villiers’ remarks came after Jaiswal’s excellent Test match debut for India in the Dominica Test against the West Indies. The 21-year-old opening batter produced a marathon knock of 171 in India’s innings victory, exhibiting great composure and defensive technique, plus a strong temperament to go with his immense skill and defiance at the crease.
Of all the young Indian batters to have made their debut in Tests in the past decade, this one seemed to be the most convincing as an early marker of a potentially long career at the top of the order.
Jaiswal applied exceptional levels of patience and grit to overcome a tricky surface against a defensively good Caribbean attack over 387 deliveries in the first-innings and announced his arrival at the big stage.
Speaking about the mighty talented Indian youngster on ‘The 360 show’ on YouTube, De Villiers cast his mind back to the Indian Premier League (IPL) where watched Yashasvi Jaiswal for the first time and marked him as a “special” player, who, according to the great South African player, has more time up his sleeves than other young batters. A player in the mould of the prodigiously talented Shubman Gill.
“Some players stood out (for India in the Dominica Test) but the man that stood out the most for me was Yashasvi Jaiswal,” De Villiers said. “Right up the order, in his first Test for India, and it’s not every day that a youngster comes out, in his very first game, in a Test match and scores a hundred.”
De Villiers recalled Jaiswal invoking thoughts of a “special” talent about him from the moment the legend saw the Mumbaikar blast opposition attacks in the IPL for Rajasthan Royals (RR). Also picked in the T20I set-up, Jaiswal smashed a whopping 625 runs in IPL 2023 for the Royals at a terrific strike-rate of 163.61.
“The very first time I saw him bat in the IPL, I thought there is something really special (about him),” De Villiers added. “You can always sort of look at a guy and (see) how much time he has facing the ball. He (Jaiswal) has the got the time facing the ball.”
“Up the order, nice left-hander.. the pace of the ball is not going to bother him. He has got the time. Even when he is playing spin, he seems to have a lot of time. I know spinners are slower, but it just looks like he has got more time to make decisions where other players might seem a bit rushed.”
