Yashasvi Jaiswal dropped a few catches in the first Test, which impacted the result of the match.
Catches win matches! But in India’s case, dropped catches cost them the first Test in Leeds. The visitors couldn’t taste success in the series opener despite scoring around 830 runs in the match. Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal put down a string of catches at Gully in both innings combined. In the first innings, Jaiswal dropped Pope at gully, who went on to score a blazing 106. To add to that, he dropped Harry Brook as well. The English No.5 was dismissed by Prasidh Krishna while he was batting on 99. It didn’t stop there. In the second innings, the 23-year-old squandered a chance to dismiss Ben Duckett. The English opener went on to score a match-winning 149.
Around all the discussions amid India’s fielding woes, Australian women’s captain Alyssa Healy has put forth her opinion on the matter. Healy referred to Jaiswal as a makeshift gully fielder who doesn’t need to be slotted in that position. She expressed that the best fielder in the team needs to take that position, because of the skills and reflexes required.
“I reckon he’s a bit of a makeshift gully. I don’t think he needs to be at Gully. It’s a bad place to feel. Put your Jadeja or someone there. Put your best fielder in the gully or your biggest guy, like Cam Green. Yeah, because they can swallow it. Nitish Ready is coming back into the team and is gonna go straight into the cordon, and Jaiswal’s already been moved out of there, just from what people are watching the practice sessions are looking like. So, they’re already trying to make those changes and look at ways that they could be better”, said Healy in an interview.
India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate expressed the team’s willingness to give the Rajasthan Royals (RR) opener a break from fielding at gully. The latter wasn’t seen practicing gully catches in the build-up to the second Test either. This has sparked rumours about his fielding position in the game at Edgbaston. Upon being asked about Jaiswal’s fielding position, Doeschate was very clear on the approach of the management.
“We always want depth in the catching department. In England, you’re always going to have four catches at some stage in the game. Yashasvi has been a very good catcher for us. We want to manage his confidence. There’s also an argument for the short-leg, you know, being a very important position, particularly if you are going to play two spinners. Maybe just give Yashasvi a break from catching at gully. His hands are quite sore. We want to get his confidence back up”, the Indian assistant coach explained.
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Yashasvi Jaiswal has taken some brilliant catches in the gully region. Throughout his tenure, he has proved his mettle as a fielder in the slip cordon. The management would love to back him and boost his morale before the team takes the field. Fielding in the slip cordon and gully can be gruelling sometimes, with the ball misbehaving in conditions like England. It would be extremely important to see the approach of Jaiswal in the second Test.
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