Kolkata: That shot was never on. Not in the second over of the innings. Not when India would have preferred a quiet start to the 193-run chase at Lord’s.
It was a loosener too from Jofra Archer. But even those are hurled above 140 kph so the connection had to be spot on. Yashasvi Jaiswal, however, tried to flat bat it, only to spear it. That’s how he plays, most would argue. But it was also so half-hearted that Jaiswal should consider himself lucky that most of the final-day glare was on Ravindra Jadeja, and the last two partnerships, and not on him.
Which should in turn exhort Jaiswal to dig deep and understand his purpose in this eleven. KL Rahul is the anchor because he believes so. He is the skewer that holds India’s batting from top to bottom. Which doesn’t necessarily mean Jaiswal has to compensate for Rahul but his flamboyance can’t be curbed easily. Which is why in the first over of the first Test at Leeds, Jaiswal didn’t hesitate to take on a fuller delivery from Chris Woakes that flew off the edge of the bat through gully.
Again at Birmingham, though it was more back of the length from Woakes, he still played the ball off his pads for four. If it’s in Jaiswal’s zone, he won’t hold back. But there is a time and place for that kind of chutzpah. With the series lead up for grabs at Lord’s, it certainly didn’t qualify as one.
This doesn’t imply Jaiswal isn’t batting right. Far from it. If you go by the law of averages, Jaiswal was probably due this failure after the hundred at Leeds and 87 at Edgbaston. A batting average of 50.77 after 22 Tests is brilliant, if not sensational. Break it down innings-wise – 50.9 in the first, 55.63 in the second, 55.8 in the third and 37.62 in the fourth and we are probably looking at greatness in the making.
Yet there are already some red flags on this tour. Twice Ben Stokes has shown that Jaiswal can be beaten off good length as well as by innocuous width. Archer ticked off the length part as well, but at 90mph on both occasions at Lord’s.
You would also wonder if there is a pattern in all this. The Australia tour started on similar lines. The Optus Stadium at Perth was sporting one of the quickest pitches in the country – and probably the world – but Jaiswal had no problem cutting down the home pace attack to bring up a splendid hundred, that too in the second innings. Two more fifties that could have easily been hundreds at the MCG followed, but before and after that Jaiswal wasn’t converting starts. Like against New Zealand at home, or against Bangladesh before that.
Five-match Test series find ways to expose hidden chinks, test batters for the long haul. Twice now Jaiswal has flickered after burning bright early in the series. And while Rahul may have taken on the responsibility to be comforting yet somewhat dated in his job, there is no reason Jaiswal can’t incorporate some of that prudence when the situation calls for it, especially when India still haven’t figured out their No.3 properly. But Jaiswal looked a bit undercooked at Lord’s, which was surprising considering how he had started the series.
None other than Kumar Sangakkara, who has overseen Jaiswal’s rise as director of cricket at Rajasthan Royals, pointed out. “Watching Jaiswal in the first over that he faced, he didn’t look comfortable, he didn’t look watchable,” the Sri Lanka great was quoted as saying on Sky Sports. “He has spent a long time at short leg for India and has come out looking a bit jaded.”
These are loaded observations, especially in the context of a series where India have batted unusually well. This game can be brutal, more so this format where the time to introspect can be torturously longer than T20s. For someone of Jaiswal’s grit and intelligence, it won’t be difficult to figure out that England are telling themselves they might have got the upper hand after his Lord’s dismissals.
Still the promise of Jaiswal is such that you can’t help but visualise him batting like he did at Birmingham. Like his hundreds at Roseau, Dominica and Perth, that hundred too was notable in underlining a ruthless yet elegant and minimalist approach to cricket. For India to bat big, Jaiswal needs to rediscover that touch at Old Trafford.