'He Could Do Anything He Wanted...,' Nitish Rana On Yashasvi Jaiswal's Record-Shattering Knock
Yashasvi Jaiswal [Image- IPLT20]
Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Nitish Rana summed it up beautifully at the post-match presentation when he said that "it was a day when he (Yashasvi) could do anything he wanted".
To be honest, we can say about every day of the ongoing season whenever Yashasvi Jaiswal has come out to bat. Such has been his domination.
But, on Sunday, Jaiswal switched on the pro-max version of beast mode, leaving everyone, including the KKR side, in complete awe.
Ironically, it was against skipper Nitish that Yashasvi started his onslaught. The southpaw showed no mercy to the part-time off-spinner, hammering him for 26 runs in the first over.
From there on, it was just carnage as the 21-year-old left-hander hooked, pulled, cut, drove and slog-swept his way to the fastest-ever 50 in IPL history, eventually ending at an unbeaten 98 (47) as RR made a mockery of KKR's total of 149.
While Rana gave full credit to Yashasvi, he also pinpointed the fact that KKR lost the game in the first half itself when they could only manage 149 on a surface, where the former thought 180 was par.
When asked about the thought process behind bringing himself on at the start of the innings against a red-hot Jaiswal, Nitish said that he thought the ploy would make the southpaw 'complacent'
Here's what Nitish Rana said:
"You have to praise his innings (on Jaiswal), it was a day when he could do anything he wanted. It was a 180 wicket as I said at the toss, our batting wasn't great and that's the result of us dropping 2 points. He was batting well right through the tournament, so I thought a part-time spinner could perhaps make him complacent, that was the plan, but he played superbly and those things do happen."
Thanks to this 9-wicket hammering, KKR are virtually out of contention for the playoffs. They will next face the Chennai Super Kings at the Chepauk on May 14th.
 "Yash Mittal")