Mumbai opener Yashasvi Jaiswal shed light on his sensational performance in the Ranji Trophy semifinal against Uttar Pradesh which helped his team seal a place in the final. Jaiswal was named Player of the Match for his twin centuries in the crucial clash. He scored 100 in the first innings and followed it up with a gritty 181 in the second to steer Mumbai to the summit clash where they will face Madhya Pradesh.
Jaiswal started slowly in the second innings and opened his account on the 54th ball, he batted with a lot of grit and determination during his marathon knock to join the elite list of Mumbai players who have slammed centuries in both innings of Ranji Trophy clash. Earlier, Sachin Tendulkar, Vinod Kambli, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane and Wasim Jaffer achieved the massive feat for Mumbai.
Talking about his gritty 372-ball stay in the second innings, Jaiswal said his plan was to stay in the middle for a long period as he took some time to play his shots on the slow track.
“I studied the wicket and realised that it was slow. When Prithvi got out, I discussed the plan with Armaan Jaffer. I wanted to give myself time at the crease because I wanted to stay in the middle for as long as possible. This was my plan. I know it took me a lot of balls to get off the mark, but once I was settled, I started accelerating,” Jaiswal told Times of India.
On joining the elite list of players, the southpaw said he was not aware of the record and got to know about it after returning to the dressing room.
“I wasn’t aware of this record. When I returned to the dressing room, my teammates told me about this. I am honoured to see my name with legends like Sachin sir, Wasim sir, Rohit and Ajinkya,” he said.
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Jaiswal further said that he had constant chats with coach Amol Muzumdar after every session and the message from him was to stay in the middle and take one ball at a time.
“I scored fifty, then converted that into 100 and then 150. I am happy that I made a plan and executed it well. I didn’t want to give my wicket to the opponent. We had enough time to bat and score as many runs as possible. It was a big game. I spoke with Amol sir (Head Coach Amol Muzumdar) after every session and during the break. He told me one thing ‘stay there, take it one ball at a time’. I did the same,” he added.
The southpaw also revealed that his Rajasthan Royals teammate Daryl Mitchell also congratulated him after the magnificent performances in the crucial clash.
“Facing 54 balls and not scoring a single run wasn’t important for me. For me, the important thing was to stay there, stick to the plan and not lose my wicket. That’s what I discussed with Armaan (Jaffer) and we both stuck to the plan. I got a congratulatory message from Daryl Mitchell after my centuries in both innings. He said ‘ you did really well. Keep going. Don’t stop’,” Jaiswal said.
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