It's not often that you are playing alongside Virat Kohli and you take the headlines with yourself. Still, Will Jacks, the 25-year-old, Englishman in his debut season in the IPL announced himself in the tournament on Sunday, April 28 with the former skipper alongside him. He overshadowed him completely in a matter of 12 deliveries. Kohli got his fifty in just 32 deliveries and was really in the mood, taking on the GT spin trio of Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad and R Sai Kishore like a champion and Jacks after a slow start too reached his fifty in just one less delivery than the leading run-scorer in IPL 2024.
But what he did after that was just remarkable as he completed his fifty in just 41 balls and broke and achieved a few records with his scintillating effort as RCB achieved the fastest 200-plus chase in the tournament.
Jacks' 41-ball explosion was not only the fifth-fastest century in IPL history but also the second-fastest by an RCB batter after Chris Gayle, who has the record in his name having smashed a 30-ball ton 11 years ago. The 25-year-old, however, left Gayle behind with his second fifty off just 10 deliveries as this was the least deliveries taken by a batter to go from 50 to 100 in the IPL. Gayle had taken 13.
Jacks' innings wasn't a typical 'go boom boom' from ball one like Travis Head did against RCB given he was struggling with his timing and was scratchy against Gujarat Titans' spin trio. However, once he got a six and a four away off Mohit Sharma, he was up and running and there was no looking back. Kohli was 51 off 32 when Jacks was batting on run-a-ball 16. Kohli ended up scoring 70* off 44 and Jacks smashed 84 off the last 25 balls he faced.
After reaching his fifty off 31 deliveries, Jacks seemed in a hurry as he went on a six-hitting spree smashing seven off them in the last couple of overs as the Indian audience got their first glimpse of 'mad man'. Jacks may be playing his first season of the IPL, however, he is already a proven T20 marauder around the world, being the first centurion in The Hundred and has centuries to his name in the SA20 and the Bangladesh Premier League.
Apart from being a top-order batter, Jacks can bowl handy off-spin too, has a six-wicket haul in Test cricket and could be that Glenn Maxwell replacement for future for the RCB in years to come. RCB might be ruing the fact that they got him in a bit late but there's still some breath left and they could leave some teams gasping for one in the remaining games.
