Just after maiden ODI century, Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal confirms availability for SMAT knockouts | Cricket News

MUMBAI: Fresh from smashing his maiden ODI century against South Africa in the third and final ODI in Visakhapatnam on Saturday, Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal will turn out for Mumbai in the eliminations of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT), to be held from December 9 to 18 in Pune.“He spoke to me this afternoon and informed me that he is available to play for Mumbai in the SMAT Round of 16. He will join the team on December 11,” Mumbai chief selector Sanjay Patil told TOI on Sunday.

Jaiswal will replace young opener Ayush Mhatre, who will lead the Indian Under-19 team at the U-19 Asia Cup in Dubai later this month, in what will be the only change to Mumbai’s squad for the SMAT knockout stages, Patil confirmed. Mhatre had notched two hundreds in the league stage of the SMAT and will leave for the India Under-19 camp after turning out for Mumbai in their final league match, against Odisha in Lucknow on Monday.While the knockout stage of the tournament will be played in the ‘Super 4’ format, Mumbai will play their knockout matches on December 12, 14 and 16. The final of the event will be played on December 18. The team will leave for Pune on December 10. TOI had reported that Rohit Sharma was keen to feature in Mumbai in the SMAT Round of 16, but the former Indian captain is yet to confirm to MCA his availability for the tournament. Mumbai qualified for the knockout stages on Saturday by beating Chhattisgarh to secure their fifth win in six matches. The reigning champions currently lead the Elite A group with 20 points.“Yashasvi will have to deal with difficult times”Meanwhile, former first-class cricketer-turned-coach Zubin Bharucha, who works closely with Jaiswal on his game, felt that the young left-hander will have to “learn to deal with difficult periods in his career”.Before bouncing back with a brilliant century in Vizag, Jaiswal endured an ordinary spell against the touring South Africans, coming out for 12, 0, 58 and 13 in the two-Test series in Kolkata and Guwahati, then 18 and 22 in the first two ODIs of the series in Ranchi and Raipur, as he repeatedly succumbed to the Proteas’ left-arm quicks Marco Jansen and Nandre Burger.“It was a tough time, and (it was) important to play ugly while still getting the job done. However, this question (of perishing against left-arm pacers) will continue throughout Yashasvi’s career. It was the same for every left bat – (Brian) Lara versus (Wasim) Akram, (Ben) Stokes versus (Mitchell) Starc, (Graeme) Smith versus Zaheer (Khan) and so on.“He won’t be any different. He just has to learn to deal with that. What is important is that he learns to deal with the tough times when runs are not going smoothly, and you have to fight for that,” Bharucha, who also trains Indian players like Sanju Samson, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag and Vaibhav Suryavanshi, told TOI.