"He is clearly very hungry and he has got great desire and belief in his ability" - Joe Root speaks glowingly about RR opener Yashasvi Jaiswal
Rajasthan Royals (RR) batter Joe Root praised teammate Yashasvi Jaiswal's intangibles, such as hunger, desire, and work ethic, calling him one of the best young talents.
The former English skipper was picked up by the franchise for his first stint in the IPL for his base price of ₹1 crore at the mini-auction last year.
While Root has only featured in three games thus far, he has seen the talented opener Yashasvi Jaiswal tear apart bowling attacks from close quarters throughout the season.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with PTI, Joe Root believes Jaiswal could debut soon for India thanks to his hunger and desire.
"You could see it (India debut) tomorrow," Root said. "One thing that is quite impressive with him is he is clearly very hungry and he has got great desire and belief in his ability.
"He is making sure that he continues to keep looking to get better, keep learning which he does, he has got a great temperament in that respect and he has got a brilliant work ethic. He is always asking and trying to learn from other players and from people around him."
Root also felt the 21-year-old has no apparent weaknesses against pace and spin.
"So I think he has got all the elements, there is no area of real weakness at this minute which you can see," he added. "He has dominated spin and seam throughout this tournament and you can see him with the confidence he is playing with now is amazing."
"I do not think it is a question of ‘if he can do it’; it is more (of) ‘when’ and how he fits into that Indian team," Root continued. "But clearly he is a hell of a talent with an amazing future ahead of him and hopefully he continues to go as it is, all falls into place and the only team he does not score runs against is England."
Yashasvi Jaiswal has been in blistering form this season, with 575 runs in 13 games at an average of 47.92 and a strike rate of 166.18. He is third on the Orange Cap list, behind only Faf du Plessis and Shubman Gill.
Despite the young opener's brilliance, RR are on the brink of elimination from a playoff spot, with 12 points in 13 games.
"It is all valuable information when you head into a major tournament" - Joe Root on the IPL experience being helpful for the World Cup
Former England skipper Joe Root believes the experience gained from his IPL stint will be handy during the 50-Over World Cup in India later this year.
England are the defending champions, having won the title in 2019, and will be among the favorites to repeat as Champions. Root said:
"It is hard to try and not to take information from the experience that you have had here. Even just being in these conditions for a long period of time, get the opportunity to see how the bowlers react, both pace and spin...playing on slightly more used wickets, different soils – obviously the dark soil and the red soil, see how they react slightly differently, just try to give yourself as much information and store that for when we come back here at the end of the year, will be important."
He continued:
"Now as well, even things like how at different venues, how the ball reacts, how you sum up faster score than others, how you approach different scenarios at those grounds — it is all valuable information when you head into a major tournament like that even if it is a different format."
Joe Root boasts an incredible ODI record, scoring 6,207 runs at an average of 50.05 and a strike rate of 86.93. He was an integral part of England's triumph in 2019, scoring 536 runs at an average of 61.77 and a strike rate of 89.53.
The World Cup is set to be played in India later this year from October 5 to November 23.