‘Yashasvi Jaiswal by a long margin for sure’ - AB de Villiers picks his favourite player of IPL 2023

Rajasthan Royals’ young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal has played some phenomenal cricket in the 16th edition of the Indian Premier League. In 14 matches, the 21-year-old has scored 625 runs at an average of 48.08 and a strike rate of 163.61, with that, he is currently fourth in the IPL Orange Cap race. Now, even though the cricketer failed to help his team qualify for the playoffs, he was lauded by multiple former cricketers, including AB de Villiers, who picked Jaiswal as his favourite player of IPL 2023.

Notably, not just scoring runs on a consistent basis, Jaiswal was playing an aggressive brand of cricket, which is ideal for the shortest format of the game. Against Kolkata Knight Riders, the cricketer registered the quickest half-century in IPL history and thus, his aggressive nature with the bat was heavily appreciated. Talking about the same, de Villiers mentioned that the UP-born cricketer has all the shots in his bag and is very calm and composed, which helps him do well.

“Yashasvi Jaiswal for me and by a long margin for sure. He is a young player and has got all the shots in the book. He has a calm and composed temperament at the wicket and I love what he does, dominating the bowlers and always looks like he is in control,” de Villiers said while talking to JioCinema.

“Shubman is a little bit older, I think Jaiswal's got a long way to go, and he has all the credentials to become a great,” he further added.

Meanwhile, Rajasthan Royals finished fifth on the IPL points table after winning only three of their last nine games in the tournament. Their batting looked shaky from time to time as Jos Buttler failed to make an impact in the majority of the matches. Other than Dhruv Jurel and Shimron Hetmyer, no other middle-order batter could capitalise much and thus, the team will be hoping to improve in the coming year.