India's Test great Cheteshwar Pujara has offered some sound advice for young upstart Yashasvi Jaiswal ahead of the Boxing Day Test against Australia starting on December 26 in Melbourne. Pujara felt that Jaiswal was rushing things early in the innings to score. quick runs, resulting in his struggles over the last two Tests.
The 22-year-old scored a breathtaking 161 in the second innings of the opening Test in Perth to help. India Won by 295 runs. However, Jaiswal He managed just 32 runs at an average of 10.66 in the next two Tests at Adelaide and Brisbane.
Speaking to Star Sports about Jaiswal's recent struggles, Pujara was quoted as saying by News18:
“He's got to give himself a little more time, the way he's playing, he's trying to rush things, he's trying to play a little more shots. He should only play shots when he's absolutely confident, especially in the first five to 10 innings, because he seems to be in a hurry to score runs, wants a quick start and wants to score the first 15-20 runs quickly.”
He added:
“When you are an open player in Test cricket, you don't go looking for the ball, you play the deliveries decently. Even if you are an aggressive player, even Virender Sehwag was an aggressive player, but he played shots. only when the ball was in his zone.”
Despite low scores in the last two Tests, Jaiswal is the third leading run-scorer in the ongoing India-Australia series with 193 runs at an average of 38.50.
The southpaw has made a sensational start to his Test career, scoring 1,600 runs at an average of 53.33 in 17 outings.
“He tries to manage deliveries that are not delivered” – Cheteshwar Pujara
Cheteshwar Pujara admitted that openers are aggressive in modern Test cricket but, contrary to Jaiswal, felt that most of them play the innings only when the delivery is in their range.
Jaiswal has shown a penchant for scoring big once in a while, as evidenced by all four of his Test centuries of 150+.
“There are a lot of aggressive batsmen and openers in Test cricket today, but when they come into the strike zone, they strike, but here it looks like Yashasvi is trying to turn the shots, he is trying to control the delivery. Which doesn't sound like it,” Pujara said.
He concluded:
“He's got to be a bit calmer, he's got to take a bit more time, if he's got a bit more confidence in his defence, then he's going to face some shots because the moment you show him respect. If the bowlers and you defend well, they're going to wait for the wicket and gradually they'll get the ball a they'll start to lift up a little and then you can play those discs.”
Pujara He is no stranger to batting in the top order in Australian conditions, having won back-to-back Test series for India in 2018/19 and 2020/21.
Meanwhile, Jaiswal's form will be crucial for India to complete the hat-trick of Test series victories in Australia. series It was tied 1-1.
Edited by Ankush Das