"Giving me small targets that I need to focus on," Yashasvi Jaiswal admits how amazing batting with Virat Kohli was

Indian youngster Yashasvi Jaiswal batted alongside Virat Kohli for the first time in an ODI game as he got to his maiden century in One-day cricket. Yashasvi is now among the few Indian players with a century across all three formats of the game. He has admitted how batting alongside Kohli helped him reach his goal.

India has never celebrated a bilateral series win in this fashion, as they have in a tough-fought win in the home series against South Africa. South Africa gave India a neck-to-neck fightback as they levelled the series in Raipur, chasing a mammoth total.

Going into Visakhapatnam, India won their first toss after 20 ODI games and also the first since the 2023 ODI World Cup semi-final. KL Rahul's decision to bowl first had the advantage, as dew played an overwhelming role in India's triumph in the final game of the series.

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"Batting with Virat paaji was amazing," Yashasvi Jaiswal said after the third ODI

As Yashasvi Jaiswal opened the innings alongside Rohit Sharma in the ODI series following Shubman Gill's injury, he could not convert his small starts to anything promising in the first two ODIs in Ranchi and Raipur.

Instead, he came back strongly only to crush any hopes left for South Africa in the final game at Vizag. With 116*, Jaiswal not only scored his maiden ODI hundred but also took India off to a promising 9-wicket victory.

Speaking of his time on the crease alongside Virat Kohli, he said that it was amazing to bat alongside him, and he eased the pressure of the young batter ever since his arrival. He also conveyed that Kohli engaged in regular conversations with the young cricketer.

Yashasvi Jaiswal said, "Batting with Virat paaji was amazing. The minute Paaji came, he started playing a lot of shots & we kept chatting as well, giving me small targets that I need to focus on, which helps me a lot & helps me towards my goal."

Yashasvi Jaiswal enters the elite list of Indian cricketers after a Visakhapatnam century

India has had only a handful of cricketers who crossed the century mark across all three formats of the game. Ever since the T20I format was introduced, many greats of the game have played in the format from India.

However, only the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Suresh Raina and Shubman Gill were among cricketers to have scored a century across all three formats of the game. Now, Yashasvi Jaiswal has also entered the elite list of Indian cricketers with the same record.

Yashasvi Jaiswal or Ruturaj Gaikwad-Who will be picked for the NZ series after Shubman Gill's return?

Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad were both picked for the South Africa series owing to injuries to Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer. However, both players have grabbed these opportunities and scored a century each in the series.

With some sheer determination, both deserve a spot in the Indian lineup for India's next ODI series against New Zealand as well, but Shubman Gill has confirmed his return to the South Africa T20Is and is hence likely to play the ODI series against New Zealand.

Now, with Gill back in the side as the captain, he is irreplaceable when fit, hence, it is most likely that Ruturaj Gaikwad will get another chance in the upcoming series, but for Yashasvi, the wait continues.

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