“He is very focused and driven” - Kumar Sangakkara hails Yashasvi Jaiswal for brilliant ton

Rajasthan Royals (RR) director of cricket and head coach Kumar Sangakkara praised young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal for his fantastic hundred against Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match on Sunday, April 30. Describing him as an extremely talented and hard-working cricketer, the Sri Lankan legend added that he is very focused and driven.

Jaiswal notched up his maiden IPL ton in match number 42 of IPL 2023 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday. He smashed 124 off only 62 balls, a knock that featured 16 fours and eight sixes. Courtesy of the exceptional knock, Rajasthan posted 212/7 after winning the toss and batting first.

Sangakkara was all praise for the left-handed batter in the post-match press conference. Sharing his thoughts on the 21-year-old, he said:

“He is not just extremely talented but also really hard-working. He has spent a lot of time in preparations, a lot of time in the nets working on his preparations. He has worked on his game for three to four years with us and it shows he is very focused and driven and the results are showing.

“He played beautifully today. He batted almost entirely through the innings, which was exceptional." Sangakkara added, "He set us up for a fantastic total. Yash has a long way to go, not just with us, but internationally. He just needs to keep working hard, keep producing the runs and knocking on that door.

“The great thing about Yash is that he learns and he keeps learning very quickly. He’s got a great attitude. He’s very positive in everything that he does.”

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Jaiswal has been in impressive form in IPL 2023. In nine matches, he has scored 428 runs at an average of 47.56 and a strike rate of 159.70.

“Tim David was just too good for us on the day” - Kumar Sangakkara

Despite Jaiswal’s brilliant knock, RR ended up on the losing side as Mumbai chased down a target of 213 in 19.3 overs with six wickets in hand. Cameron Green (44 off 26) and Suryakumar Yadav (55 off 29) set up the chase before Tim David (45* off 14) did a spectacular finishing job.

David hit Jason Holder for three consecutive sixes in the last over to clinch victory for MI. Reflecting on the result, Sangakkara commented:

“We got to a great total. 212 (213) is not an easy chase. We could have been a little more disciplined in our bowling in the powerplay, but the way they batted and how Tim David finished in the end, the way Suryakumar Yadav batted in the middle and Cameron Green as well. They showed a lot of intent.