Cheteshwar Pujara analyzed the mistakes Yashasvi Jaiswal has been committing in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The left-handed Yashasvi Jaiswal batter slammed an incredible century in the second innings of the Perth Test, but since then, he has not been able to get going and lost his wicket twice in the first over to Mitchell Starc. The young batting superstar Yashasvi Jaiswal has been facing the feat of looking in a rush against the new ball, which is not working in his favour.
Yashasvi Jaiswal might have made heads turn with his scintillating hundred in Perth against Australia, but the Indian opener has been inconsistent thereafter in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT).
Yashasvi Jaiswal’s on – off form in current BGT series
Playing for the first time on Australian soil, Yashasvi Jaiswal started with a duck in the first innings at the Optus Stadium in Perth before garnering applause with his 161 in the second innings, en route to India’s 295-run win.
However, since then, the southpaw didn’t perform as expected with scores of 0, 24, 4 and 4 not out. Yashasvi Jaiswal’s major weakness has been in the deliveries which were pitches up. Rather than playing the waiting game against the moving new ball, the left-hander seemed to be a hurry to score quick runs as he looked shaky, especially while playing the deliveries that were pitched up.
Former India cricketer Cheteshwar Pujara took a note of what’s going wrong with Yashasvi Jaiswal and cited Virender Sehwag’s examples on how to play as an opener in Test cricket. Pujara, who was India’s hero in the last two BGT triumphs Down Under, also suggested that Yashasvi Jaiswal looked in a hurry to play his shots at the start of the innings. He advised the young left-hander to play on merit, which is key for an opener in red-ball cricket.
Cheteshwar Pujara identifies reason behind Yashasvi Jaiswal’s struggle, offers solution ahead of Boxing Day Test in BGT 2024-25
Yashasvi Jaiswal kicked off his maiden Australia tour with a magnificent century, scoring 161 in India’s second innings in Perth. However, the left-hander endured low scores in Adelaide and Brisbane, including a first-ball duck. Yashasvi Jaiswal has showcased promise since making his Test debut in 2023 and had a terrific series against England at home earlier this year. But batting in Australia has been challenging so far for the 22-year-old.
As India gear up for the Boxing Day Test, Jaiswal would like to return among the runs, and veteran India batter Cheteshwar Pujara has some useful suggestions for the youngster. Speaking to Star Sports, Pujara stated that Yashasvi Jaiswal appears to be in a hurry while batting against the Australians. Instead, the Mumbai batter needs to give himself time and play the ball on its merit.
“He needs to give himself a bit more time, the way he is playing, he is trying to rush things, he is trying to play shots a bit more. He should only play shots if he is quite sure about it, especially in the first 5–10 overs because it seems that he is in a hurry to score runs, he wants a quick start, and he wants to score those first 15–20 runs quickly,” Pujara said.
“When you are an opener in Test cricket then you don’t go out searching for the ball, you play the deliveries on merit. Even if you are an aggressive player, even Virender Sehwag was an aggressive player, but he used to play shots only when the ball was pitched in his zone.
“There are a lot of aggressive batters and openers in Test cricket today, but they play the shots when the ball is pitched in the hitting zone, but here it looks like Yashasvi is trying to convert the shots, he is trying to drive the deliveries which are not pitched up,” he added.
Pujara maintained that Jaiswal needs to maintain his composure and spend a bit more time in the middle with his defence if he wants to succeed in Australian conditions.
“He needs to be a bit calm, he needs to spend a bit more time, if he will show some confidence in his defence then that’s when he’ll come across some shot-playing deliveries because the moment when you show some respect to the bowlers and you defend well then they’ll look forward to getting a wicket and gradually they’ll start pitching the ball a bit up and that’s when you can play those drives,” Pujara concluded.
With two more games to go in this series, India need to win in Melbourne and Sydney to stake a claim in the race for the final of World Test Championship (WTC) which is to be played next year at Lord’s. The India vs Australia series is currently locked at 1-1 after three games.