Yashasvi Jaiswal currently has two versions. The batter and the fielder. Jaiswal, the batter, can’t do a thing wrong. He began the Test series against England with a century at Leeds and followed it with another imperious knock of 87 in the ongoing match at Edgbaston.
He has enjoyed an extraordinary start to his Test career, loves batting against England, and averages 100 against them. That he fell 13 short of a century came as a shock because that’s the standard he has set for himself.
And then, there is Jaiswal, the fielder. Butter-fingered, sloppy and inattentive. At Headingley, Jaiswal put down, not one, not two, but a total of four dropped catches. Be it gully, anywhere inside the circle or in the deep, Jaiswal simply couldn’t hold on to a catch. In the first innings, he put down Harry Brook, Ollie Pope and Ben Duckett and in the second, grassed another chance of the England left-handed opener. The missed opportunity proved costly as Duckett, who was on 97 at that time, went on to score 149 to steer England towards victory. Nothing, and we mean absolutely went right for Jaiswal in the field.
And sadly enough for Team India, more of the same could be on the cards in Birmingham. Kumar Sangakkara, the former Sri Lanka captain, does not rule out more dropped catches from Jaiswal, especially since he missed out on his century. Jaiswal, who will no longer be fielding in slips or gully in the 2nd Test, underwent some serious catching practice, but Sangakkara says if he were Shubman Gill, he would be a tad nervous.
“I mean. If Jaiswal has to go out and field just now after having got out the way he did, so close to a 100, you are not getting anything from him on the field. He will just still be thinking about ‘Oh my god. I missed another 100. How many balls am I going to go and hit? When is my next batting? This pitch is flat. Will I get another batting turn?’ That’s how Jaiswal thinks,” Sangakkara said on Sky Sports.
Sangakkara’s confident assessment of Jaiswal stems from the time he spent with the youngster during his time at the Rajasthan Royals. Jaiswal started his IPL career with RR in the year 2020, when Sangakkara was their batting coach. Although he played just three matches that season, he grew and learned a lot in the company of some legends. Today, Jaiswal is one of the best Test openers in world cricket, and Sangakkara couldn’t be prouder.
“I saw him 4 years ago when I joined the Rajasthan Royals. He was a young kid among two more – Anuj Rawat and Mahipal Lomror – and I could immediately see the quality of the kid. And he was a kid at the time; he still is very young, but he’s worked really hard. He has a really defined method in his mind about how to play cricket in every format. And he’s got a hunger to succeed. There’s one thing that’s unmistakable about Jaiswal,” he added.
“He’s got this hunger, this drive that comes from deep within, that he wants to be the best at what he does. And that drives him. Great technique, great poise, great defence, very solid in every single decision that he makes. He is all about scoring runs. Even in defence, he is like ‘How do I get off strike’, and you don’t see any fear in him as well. He is brilliant. I absolutely love him as a person, but as a cricketer too, he is a gun.”