Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting heaped praise on Young Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal for his exceptional performance in the IPL, which helped him to make it into the Indian side for the Test and T20 series against West Indies. The Southpaw had a dream debut against West Indies scoring his maiden test century in the tough conditions and believes Ruturaj Gaikwad can become all three formats for India in the future.
The left-hander batter scored 171 runs in the 1st innings of the game, which helped the Indian team post a massive total of 421-5 in the 1st innings, which eventually helped India to win the game by an innings and 141 runs in the 1st test.
Speaking on the ICC Review, Ricky Ponting lauded the left-handed opener for his special performance in the cash-rich league, as the youngster turned into a superstar through his phenomenal performance for Rajasthan Royals in this edition of the IPL 2023 and reckons that Jaiswal has got the talent to perform for India at the highest level.
“I mean (Yashasvi) Jaiswal’s IPL was something special. He almost just flicked a switch and turned into a superstar overnight, Everyone knew that he was a talented youngster, but what I saw in this year’s IPL, he’s got all sorts of talent,” Ricky Ponting said.
Yashasvi Jaiswal scripted history as he recorded a hundred in his maiden Test on away soil. The Mumbai-born batter became the 17th Indian batter to score a century on his debut for the Indian team in the longer format of the game.
Ricky Ponting is excited to see many youngsters playing test cricket for India in the future, as they got good domestic records in recent times and said that he is excited to watch Ruturaj Gaikwad play in the longer format for India and reckons that he would be an all-format player for India in the next couple of years.
“There’s a lot of those young Indian guys that I can’t wait to see play Test cricket and yet you look at their domestic records as well and you can’t help but be impressed. I’m on record saying that I think (Ruturaj) Gaikwad’s the same (as Jaiswal).
“I think he could be a very serious Test match player or all-format player really in the next couple of years”.
The One I Do Feel A Little Bit Sorry For Is Sarfaraz Khan – Ricky Ponting
Ricky Ponting also raised his concern about the exclusion of Sarfaraz Khan from the test squad despite performing well in domestic cricket, he has an average of close to 80 in the domestic circuit, and believes they are some other reasons to snub him from the India test squad.
“The one I do feel a little bit sorry for is Sarfaraz Khan. The fact that he hasn’t got a look in a Test squad just yet considering he averages in the high 80s I think in first-class cricket, which is unheard of, but for some reason, they keep picking these other guys ahead of him,” Ricky Ponting said.
Sarfaraz Khan has been one of the consistent performers for Mumbai, as he amassed 3,505 runs from 37 matches 13 centuries, and nine half-centuries at an average of 79.65. The Mumbai domestic batter was ignored from the India squad for the World Test Championship final and India tour of the West Indies despite doing well in domestic cricket.