IPL 2021: 'Greatly elated by getting his [MS Dhoni] signature on my bat'- Yashasvi Jaiswal

Young Indian batsman and Rajasthan Royals opener Yashasvi Jaiswal was greeted with a signature on his bat by the legendary MS Dhoni. It came following his match-winning knock against the Chennai Super Kings in Abu Dhabi on Saturday evening.

Jaiswal took to his official Twitter account on Sunday to express his emotions after receiving the ultimate gift from MSD.

He wrote-

‘’What a moment meeting the legendary @msdhoni sir and greatly elated by getting his signature on my bat. Always an inspiration! 🙌🙏’’

Jaiswal on Saturday lit up the Indian Premier League for the very first time in his career since making his debut last year. He teed into CSK’s bowling line-up to provide the Royals’ an ideal launchpad during their run-chase

The southpaw smashed his maiden IPL fifty in just 19 deliveries and he did with a monstrous six off Josh Hazlewood. Jaiswal smashed the 2nd fastest fifty by an uncapped Indian player in the lucrative league. The record belongs to Ishan Kishan, who racked up a 17-ball 50 against the Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2018 season.

'I was just looking at capitalizing on the loose balls'- Yashasvi Jaiswal

Earlier in the day, Ruturaj Gaikwad’s sumptuous maiden IPL ton lifted the Super Kings to what looked like a match-winning score of 189/3 in 20 overs.

But seeing how the likes of Gaikwad and Ravindra Jadeja were scoring, Jaiswal had already realized that the pitch was flat. He felt if he could give his side a brisk start then they could possibly chase down the total.

‘’I was thinking about looking at the wicket first, but we were chasing 190, I knew the wicket must be good. I was just looking at capitalizing on the loose balls and giving my team a good start so that we are able to chase 190," Jaiswal told Anuj Rawat and Shivam Dube in a video posted by iplt20.

That is exactly what the young southpaw as he laid into the likes of Sam Curran and especially Josh Hazlewood in the powerplay. Jaiswal smashed four 4s and three sixes off the Australian seamer in just 12 balls while Evin Lewis continued to mete out the same treatment to other bowlers.

The Royals smashed 75 runs in the powerplay. Even though Jaiswal and Lewis got dismissed shortly afterwards, Shivam Dube’s unbeaten 42-ball 64 ensured that their side gunned down the total in 17.3 overs.