"He gave Shubman Gill the opportunity to take his time" - RP Singh lauds Yashasvi Jaiswal's knock in 4th India vs West Indies T20I
RP Singh has lauded Yashasvi Jaiswal for taking the attack to the opposition bowlers and allowing Shubman Gill to get his eye in the fourth T20I between India and the West Indies.
The Windies set the Men in Blue a 179-run target in Lauderhill, Florida, on Saturday, August 12. Jaiswal (84* off 51) and Gill (77 off 47) then strung together a 165-run opening partnership in just 15.3 overs to help Hardik Pandya and Co. register a nine-wicket win with three overs to spare and draw level in the five-match series.
While reviewing the game on JioCinema, RP Singh was asked about his thoughts on Jaiswal and Gill's partnership, to which he responded:
"I liked the partnership a lot. They dominated the entire match. The good thing about the partnership is that when one batter was not in that good form or rhythm, the other batter took charge. Yashasvi Jaiswal did that and gave Shubman Gill the opportunity to take his time."
The former Indian pacer highlighted that Gill would have been eager to make the most of a placid surface. He reasoned:
"A lot of things might have been playing in Shubman Gill's mind. His series had not been too good thus far. So he would have also been thinking that this wicket is slightly to his liking, where there is pace and bounce, so why not utilize that?"
Singh added that the flying start provided by Jaiswal would have eased the pressure on Gill. He observed:
"You don't get such wickets very often. The last few wickets were not that good. So Shubman Gill's bat also fired a little along with Yashasvi Jaiswal because he did not have that much pressure on him as the batter at the other end was batting destructively."
Jaiswal smashed 24 runs, including five boundaries, off the first 15 balls he faced. Gill joined the party soon thereafter as the duo smoked 66 runs in the powerplay overs.
"Yashasvi Jaiswal totally dominated the match" - RP Singh
RP Singh concluded by praising Yashasvi Jaiswal for both dominating and closing out the game for the Men in Blue. He said:
"He (Jaiswal) was not allowing the bowlers to deliver the ball on the right line and length and Shubman Gill gained because of that. In my opinion, Yashasvi Jaiswal totally dominated the match, played good shots, and along with that also showed how to take the game forward."
Jaiswal was duly awarded the Player of the Match for his match-winning knock. He will hope to continue his good form in the series-deciding final game to be played at the same venue on Sunday, August 13.