'Felt scared watching that as a bowler' - R Ashwin praises Yashasvi Jaiswal after match-winning knock against Delhi Capitals

Rajasthan Royals came back to winning ways in Match 11 of IPL 2023 against Delhi Capitals as they beat them by 57 runs. After being put in to bat first, RR posted a massive total of 199/4 in the first innings courtesy of classy knocks from Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler. The duo once again put a massive opening stand and added 98 runs in 51 balls.

Jaiswal was the aggressor in the partnership as he scored 60 off 31 balls, smashing 11 fours and a six in his innings and got the Player of the Match award. The southpaw got Rajasthan’s innings off to flier with 20 runs off the first over against Khaleel Ahmed. After his scintillating knock, Jaiswal got special praise from his teammate Ravichandran Ashwin, who was in awe of the ease at which he smashed the bowlers all around the ground. 

"Personally as a bowler watching that I felt really scared. Like if the first over goes for 20 runs, as someone who has to follow up and bowl inside the powerplay in a T20 game in India, I felt like first over was warning sign to your own bowlers,” said Ashwin in a video uploaded on IPL’s Twitter handle.

Talking about his thought process during the first over, Jaiswal revealed that he wasn’t thinking much and was just looking to score runs. "I wasn't thinking much. It was just that since I was seeing the ball well I decided that I have to go after him. It was a good pitch so I wanted to keep scoring runs to make sure we get to a good total,” said Jaiswal.

Red-ball cricket helps me work on my skills: Yashasvi Jaiswal

The 21-year-old has been in sensational form with the bat in the recent past. He credited his success to red-ball cricket which has helped him to control his emotions.

"Yes 100 percent (on red-ball cricket having helped his game) because I think I have played lot of red-ball cricket over the past year and have been able to control my emotions well. That helps me in staying calm and express myself in T20s. So playing Ranji Trophy, Irani Trophy and Duleep Trophy helps me work on my skills," Jaiswal stated.

Coming back to the match, chasing 200, Delhi’s batting faltered against the top-notch bowling from Trent Boult (3/29) and Yuzvendra Chahal (3/29) as they were restricted to 142/9.