Suresh Raina: There is certain calmness in Yashasvi’s batting; there is a different energy in his body language

In IPL 2023 match No. 66 in Dharamsala on Friday night; Rajasthan Royals defeated Punjab Kings by four wickets to keep themselves in the running for a playoff spot while the Royals, who were given a tricky target of 188 for victory, reached 189/6 in 19.4 overs.

In IPL 2023 Match No. 66 in Dharamsala on Friday night, Rajasthan Royals defeated Punjab Kings by four wickets to keep themselves in the running for a playoff spot. 

The Royals, who were given a tricky target of 188 for victory, reached 189/6 in 19.4 overs thanks to Shimron Hetmyer’s 46, Yashasvi Jaiswal’s 50, and Devdutt Padikkal’s 51. Earlier, Sam Curran (49 not out), Jitesh Sharma (44), and M. Shahrukh Khan (41 not out) all contributed significantly to PBKS’s score of 187/5.

After the end of their league games, the victory raised the Royals’ point total to 14, while PBKS finished the season with 12 points from their 14 games. The Royals climbed up to fifth place and their chances in the tournament depend on the results of the remaining matches as both Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians, who have a game in hand each, have 14 points each as well.

Analysing Royals’ performance, JioCinema IPL expert Pragyan Ojha said: “I think it’s too late now. For a team who you kept in your top four before the start of the tournament to now come and think that they can advance only if the other team that is in contention loses is a situation they brought upon themselves.”

“That is something they have to think about. As Raina (Suresh) pointed out Sanju Samson and Jos Buttler got out for ducks in five of the 14 games. Then they were left searching for bowlers, also the way they used their bowlers… The small things add up to something big and it is visible in the eventual result,”

he added.

Speaking about Jaiswal, another JioCinema IPL expert Suresh Raina said:

“There is certain calmness in his batting. There is a different energy in his body language, scoring runs consistently for his team. For this, I’ll give a lot of credit to Kumar Sangakkara who is sitting in their dugout. He’s (Jaiswal) a different type of player. He looks to dominate. And any player who looks to dominate in this format reaches a different level. He has all those qualities.”