Vaibhav Suryavanshi will take away all the headlines, and deservedly so, but Yashasvi Jaiswal has once again emerged as the Rajasthan Royals’ (RR) best batter. The 15-year-old smashed 39 off 14, which included two sixes off Jasprit Bumrah. In his short career, Suryavanshi hadn’t faced the world’s best bowler. When he did, the teenager struck a six to kick things off.
Yashasvi Jaiswal aces the powerplay
It was awestrucking. The world was visiting greatness. The shapes, the angles, and the power. It was all majestic. But Suryavanshi wasn’t the point of difference against the Mumbai Indians (MI). It was Jaiswal. In modern T20 cricket and the Indian Premier League (IPL), the powerplay often decides the match’s outcome.
Whoever bosses the first 6 over, with bat and ball, emerges on top more often than not. With Suryavanshi and Jaiswal, easily the most destructive opening partnership in IPL 2026, present, RR were always set to gain the advantage despite batting first in a rain-hit, overs-reduced match at the Barsapara Stadium.
And that’s exactly what happened. Although we equate rapid starts with Suryavanshi, who has a strike rate of 227.4 in the powerplay in the IPL. However, it was Jaiswal who helped RR get off to a good start. 3.2 overs or 20 balls was all the home had to inflict heavy damage.
Most 50-plus scores for RR in the IPL
- 25 – Jos Buttler (82 innings)
- 25 – Sanju Samson (144 innings)
- 19 – Yashasvi Jaiswal (69 innings)
- 19 – Ajinkya Rahane (93 innings)
- 16 – Shane Watson (76 innings)
Jaiswal smashed 5 boundaries in the first over, delivered by Deepak Chahar. From there on, MI was on the back foot. In the third over, he took Trent Boult to task. Another 22 runs came off this over. After the powerplay, RR were 59/0. Jaiswal was unbeaten on 38 (13).
Suryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel, and Riyan Parag departed with cameos. But it was Jaiswal who took RR to a mammoth total of 150. He scored more than 50% of the runs, 77. That too, from just 5.2 overs or 32 balls. All the other batters combined scored 67 runs from 34 balls or 5.4 overs.
Jaiswal was the anchor and aggressor. A role most batters can play. Here he was acing it. RR ended up winning the match comfortably. In fact, it was over by the end of the powerplay. At the 3.2 over mark, MI had scored 29 fewer runs and lost 3 more wickets. As mentioned above, it was all about the powerplay.
RR handily bossed it in both innings. As a result, they won by 28 runs. And one mustn’t forget, at the center of it was Jaiswal.
Yashasvi Jaiswal vs Mumbai Indians (last 5 innings)
- Runs : 328
- Average : 109.33
- Strike Rate: 197.59
