Yashasvi Jaiswal currently has two versions. The batter and the fielder. Yashasvi Jaiswal, the batter, can’t do a thing wrong. Yashasvi Jaiswal began the Test series against England with a century at Leeds and followed it with another imperious knock of 87 in the ongoing match at Edgbaston. Yashasvi Jaiswal has enjoyed an extraordinary start to his Test career, loves batting against England, and averages 100 against them. That he fell 13 short of a century came as a shock because that’s the standard he has set for himself.
And then, there is Yashasvi Jaiswal, the fielder. Butter-fingered, sloppy and inattentive. At Headingly, Yashasvi Jaiswal put down, not one, not two, but a total of four dropped catches. Be it gully, anywhere inside the circle or in the deep, Yashasvi Jaiswal simply couldn’t hold on to a catch.
In the first innings, he put down Harry Brook, Ollie Pope and Ben Duckett and in the second, grassed another chance of the England left-handed opener. The missed opportunity proved costly as Duckett, who was on 97 at that time, went on to score 149 to steer England towards victory. Nothing, and we mean absolutely went right for Yashasvi Jaiswal in the field.
And sadly enough for Team India, more of the same could be on the cards in Birmingham. Kumar Sangakkara, the former Sri Lanka captain, does not rule out more dropped catches from Yashasvi Jaiswal, especially since he missed out on his century. Yashasvi Jaiswal, who will no longer be fielding in slips or gully in the 2nd Test, underwent some serious catching practice, but Sangakkara says if he were Shubman Gill, he would be a tad nervous.
Yashasvi Jaiswal’s stellar India career in Tests and T20Is
Young India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal has turned out to be one of the brightest prospects in world cricket with his incredible start to international cricket last year. The left-handed batter took just 9 Tests (16 innings) to complete 1000 runs in Test cricket and was the second-fastest Indian to achieve the feat after Vinod Kambli (14 innings).
The 22-year-old announced his arrival in international cricket with a century on his Test debut against West Indies, but it was the series against England that established him as the next big thing in world cricket. He smashed 712 runs in the five-match series and outshined senior pros like Rohit Sharma, Joe Root, Ben Stokes and others.
The swashbuckling opener has also impressed many with his free-flowing batting in T20Is. He has played 23 T20Is for India and scored 723 runs at an astonishing strike rate of 164.32. He is yet to make his ODI debut but still one of the contenders to make into India’s squad for the Champions Trophy next year.
Yashasvi Jaiswal had a hard time during India’s 2023-24 away Test series against South Africa, his maiden Test assignment in a SENA nation. He could only manage 50 runs across four innings at 12.50. Left-arm pacer Nandre Burger was his major nemesis on that tour as he dismissed Jaiswal thrice. Notably, Yashasvi Jaiswal is gearing up for his maiden Test series in England. He is yet to visit New Zealand for a national assignment.
Yashasvi Jaiswal redeemed himself with some fine knocks in the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy against hosts Australia, his only other Test assignment to date. Though India suffered a 1-3 defeat, Yashasvi Jaiswal finished the five-match affair with 391 runs at 43.44. Only Travis Head (448) clocked more runs in that series. His 161 in the third innings of the Perth Test was instrumental to India’s only win in that tour. Yashasvi Jaiswal also clocked two fifties.
Yashasvi Jaiswal and his opening partner KL Rahul (77) added 201 runs in the third innings of the aforementioned Perth Test. They became the third Indian opening pair to record a double-century stand in SENA nations in Tests. The duo also became just the sixth visiting opening pair to register a 200-plus partnership Down Under.All the five other pairs with this feat are from England.
Overall, the left-handed Yashasvi Jaiswal has racked up 1,798 runs at an incredible average of 52.88. This includes 10 fifties and four tons. His best score is 214*. The youngster clocked 36 Test sixes in 2024, And come to England in 2025 nothing changed for Yashasvi Jaiswal who continued his glorious form vs England smashing a 101 and 87 runs respectively in the first two matches vs them entering the elusive club of Don Bradman and Rahul Dravid who has scored more than 900 runs vs England.
Following his journey through coaching him at Rajasthan Royal’s IPL stint, Former Sri Lankan wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara has described Yashasvi Jaiswal’s temperament and his obseesion for England’s prolific batter Joe Root since IPL days.
Kumar Sangakkara states Yashasvi Jaiswal’s uncanny obsession with Joe Root calling him “Joe-Swal”
Kumar Sangakkara’s confident assessment of Jaiswal stems from the time he spent with the youngster during his time at the Rajasthan Royals. Jaiswal started his IPL career with RR in the year 2020, when Sangakkara was their batting coach. Although he played just three matches that season, he grew and learned a lot in the company of some legends. Today, Yashasvi Jaiswal is one of the best Test openers in world cricket, and Sangakkara couldn’t be prouder.
Kumar Sangakkara explained the bond between Yashasvi Jaiswal and Joe Root during their time together at Rajasthan Royals and how the England batter mentored the Indian opener. Joe Root played in the IPL during the 2023 season as he made three appearances for the Jaipur-based franchise. Incidentally, this was the breakout season for Yashasvi Jaiswal as he scored 625 runs in 14 matches and scored a hundred as well.
Joe Root was part of RR in 2023. It was also Jaiswal’s breakout and best season so far, with the left-hander smashing 625 runs at an average of 48.08, with a strike-rate of 163.61. It went a long way in him getting his India caps across formats, and now becoming a regular in Tests.
Yashasvi Jaiswal went on to become a mainstay in the Test team and has already scored 192 runs in 3 innings. Speaking to Sky Sports, Sangakkara, who works as the Director Of Cricket with the Royals, revealed the bond the young opener shared with Root.
Sangakkara said that they had a nickname for the Indian opener and it was Joeswal as he was constantly by Root’s side and learning everything.
“Every young cricketer that I come across has that same passion. The only thing is they do understand what’s on offer and how to navigate that cricketing landscape and the changing of it.
So I think careers will come down, the span of careers will come down, and we’re seeing it already, and I don’t think it’s gonna be any different for Jaiswal, especially when he has to manage his body and his workload. But we had Joe Root at Rajasthan Royals and we used to call Jaiswal, Joeswal, because he never left Joe’s side and soaking up everything,” said Sangakkara.
One of the world’s best batters, Root, never got the trust of IPL franchises. Even for RR, he featured in three games but got to bat just once. However, it didn’t stop him from mentoring Jaiswal.
Kumar Sangakkara said that conversations between Root and Jaiswal were about cricket and life and they would sit for four hours every night and the Indian opener would ask him a lot of questions and listen to the England batter. The RR director said that Jaiswal is a fast learner.
“And they weren’t talking just T20, they were talking about everything cricket and life, and he would sit right next to Joe for about 4 hours every night and just pester him with questions or just open-mouth listening to Root. Root 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,” said Sangakkara.
While Yashasvi Jaiswal’s game has been impressive, the mentorship from Root is seen as a significant factor in his development as a cricketer. Following his 101 at Headingly , Yashasvi Jaiswal helds th opening foundation yet again seeing off the new ball attack scoring a valiant 87 which eventually led India to score mammoth 587 vs England in the first innings.
Yashasvi Jaiswal and Root are currently playing against each other in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. Jaiswal missed out on a second century of the series by 13 runs, getting out for 87 in the Edgbaston Test. India ended the innings at 587 before England were reduced for 77/3. Root held fort alongside Harry Brook, with the duo batting at 18 and 30, respectively.
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