It’s amazing how Jaiswal keeps ticking all the tough boxes one after another, that too with authority and panache.
How do you define a great Test batter? Ability to adapt? Appetite for runs? Assurance at the crease? With Yashasvi Jaiswal, India get a package of everything.
It’s amazing how Jaiswal keeps ticking all the tough boxes one after another, that too with authority and panache. He started with a century in the West Indies, then in Perth, and now in Leeds, all in his maiden Test match. The latest one, in Leeds, didn’t come on the toughest of tracks, but what it again confirmed was Jaiswal’s quick-learning ability and expertise to adapt.
Before Yashasvi Jaiswal played his maiden knock on English soil, there were doubts regarding his technique and whether he could adapt. Jaiswal is predominantly a back-foot player and has had issues with fuller lengths in the past. He is prone to edging deliveries, given his tendency to play away from his body.
But that changed to an extent when the day of reckoning came in Leeds. While facing the new ball, it’s vital to be on the front foot in England, even if conditions are dry and flat now. Despite being a back-foot player, Jaiswal played 75.55% of deliveries from the front foot or coming down the track against pacers in the first 15 overs.
He shouldered arms or left 33.33% of deliveries and defended, forward or backwards, on 24.44% of balls. There were occasional flashy cuts or drives, but they were mostly on loose deliveries, which came regularly with the new ball. A false shot of 33.33% didn’t mean he was close to losing his wicket; he would hit so hard that it was nearly impossible to grab most of them.
And when the ball was slightly old and England employed straighter lines with an inward angle, Jaiswal was quick to shuffle off the back foot and manage through his limitations on the leg side. He played 56.66% of balls off the back foot after the first 15 overs, but his false shot also surged to 36.66%. He missed 24.44%, edged 6.66%, and mistimed 5.55% of deliveries.
But this was where his mental toughness came to the fore. He struggled with cramps and had to get treatment at least three times during his stay, but Jaiswal was still prudent with his shot selection, even if he was battling pain. For instance, English pacers bowled 37.77% deliveries on the back of length or shorter once the new shine went away, but Jaiswal resisted playing shots like hook or pull when the field was non-traditional and luring for such strokes.
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Yashasvi Jaiswal is among the finest spin players in the team, and while he didn’t face enough balls, there were encouraging signs. Shoaib Bashir bowled well on a dry surface and was quite accurate throughout the day. But Jaiswal had a temptation to take him down since he was struggling with pain.
He used the crease brilliantly to start Bashir’s spell with a boundary. That wasn’t a short delivery by any measure, but Jaiswal is too quick in reading lengths that he has more than an extra second to either shuffle off the back foot or remain on the front foot. As Bashir started to bowl fuller lengths, the batter found it easier to keep fending from the front foot.
Jaiswal played 83.33% of deliveries from the front foot and had only three false shots in 24 attempts. He was in obvious pain, so he couldn’t attack Bashir as much as he would have liked, but he was still in complete control. To Bashir’s credit, he was accurate, but Jaiswal still managed to show his class against spin, even if for a limited time.
It would be wrong to say this was among the finest knocks from Yashasvi Jaiswal. Despite a young career, he has still played better knocks with more command. But this knock was about adaptability and the ability to gauge the demands of the current situation.
He started well before slowing down a bit and then accelerated again while battling cramps to form a rollercoaster of an innings. He was wise to start on the front foot and negate the new-ball threat, even if bowlers were wayward. He didn’t play risky shots and didn’t fall into the leg-side trap that this English side often adopts, scoring only 11% of runs in this region.
Sai Sudharsan succumbed to his plan early in his innings. The angle can sometimes tangle left-handers, especially since Yashasvi’s leg-side range is limited. But if only it were that easy to contain him with any ploy, even if it’s his weakest part.
This is what he did in Australia as well; he started to shuffle from the leg side once Mitchell Starc exploited his usual middle and leg stump shuffle by bowling fuller lengths. Even then, he began to meet the balls early on decks with excessive seam movement. It’s easier to stick to usual muscle memory, but that doesn’t fetch rewards overseas.
This knock has set the tone for the series, even if it wasn’t as fluent. If conditions remain the same, a repeat of the 2024 series when England arrived on Indian shores can’t be ruled out. Jaiswal has the hunger for big runs, and given the lack of experience in England’s pace department, he can be their biggest tormentor again.
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