Legendary Sri Lanka cricketer Kumar Sangakkara revealed what nickname Yashasvi Jaiswal was given at Rajasthan Royals.While analysing the youngster’s technique on Sky Sports with Michael Atherton, Sangakkara explained how close Jaiswal was with Joe Root during the English batter’s stint with the Royals and how he would pepper Root with all sorts of questions, be it about cricket or life.“We had Joe Root at Rajasthan Royals, and we used to call Jaiswal ‘Joeswal’ because he never left Joe’s side, and Rooty was soaking up everything,” Sangakkara said.“They weren’t talking just T20; they were talking about everything—cricket and life—and he would sit right next to Joe for about four hours every night, just pestering him with questions or sitting open-mouthed listening to Rooty.“Rooty was absolutely brilliant in our environment, and he’s learned so much, and that’s another aspect of Jaiswal. He’s a fast learner, and he wants to learn.”
When Michael Atherton asked Sangakkara about how good the 23-year-old is, the former Sri Lanka captain replied: “The easiest way to do it is to look at his numbers, and they’re incredible.”“Any young cricketer with this as their foundation—you know that he’s incredibly good, not just technically but temperament-wise, and he has an appetite that separates him from other young cricketers of the same age.“He’s got a debut hundred, he’s the third youngest, I think, after Vinod Kambli and Sir Don Bradman, to have two double hundreds to his name. He’s hungry to score runs away, bats in all conditions, so he’s extremely, extremely good at the moment.“I’ve known Yashasvi Jaiswal for close to five years now.I saw him as a young kid at Rajasthan Royals, and then we got to know him. I think he’s just going to get better. I think he’s got the resilience to withstand a lot of the challenges that come his way in international cricket, take the rise and then the bumps and the falls along the way in his stride, and he’s extremely driven and motivated, so he’s going to be even better.”
