Cheteshwar Pujara has offered advice to young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal amidst the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Pujara believes Jaiswal is rushing his batting approach and should take more time at the crease.
Jaiswal has accumulated 193 runs across three Test matches. A significant portion, 161 runs, came during his impressive second innings performance in Perth, a match India won convincingly.
However, his subsequent scores of 0, 24, 4, and 4 not out indicate a struggle to maintain momentum.
“He needs to give himself a bit more time, the way he is playing, he is trying to rush things, he is trying to play shots a bit more. He should only play shots if he is quite sure about it, especially in the first 5-10 overs because it seems that he is in a hurry to score runs, he wants a quick start, and he wants to score those first 15-20 runs quickly,” Pujara told Star Sports.
He emphasized the importance of patience for Test match openers, even for those known for aggressive batting. He drew a comparison to Virender Sehwag, renowned for his aggressive style.
“When you are an opener in Test cricket then you don’t go out searching for the ball, you play the deliveries on merit. Even if you are an aggressive player, even Virender Sehwag was an aggressive player but he used to play shots only when the ball was pitched in his zone.”
“There are a lot of aggressive batters and openers in Test Cricket today but they play the shots when the ball is pitched in the hitting zone, but here it looks like Yashasvi is trying to convert the shots, he is trying to drive the deliveries which are not pitched up.”
Mitchell Starc, the left-arm pacer, has dismissed Jaiswal four times in this series. Pujara suggests Jaiswal could learn from KL Rahul’s approach, focusing on solid defense and capitalizing on fuller deliveries.
“He needs to be a bit calm, he needs to spend a bit more time, if he will show some confidence on his defence then that’s when he’ll come across some shot playing deliveries.”
Pujara highlights the importance of respecting the bowlers and building confidence through defense. This, he believes, can lead to bowlers pitching the ball up, creating opportunities for scoring drives.
“It’s because the moment when you show some respect to the bowlers and you defend well then they’ll look forward to getting a wicket and gradually they’ll starting pitching the ball a bit up and that’s when you can play those drives. They way KL Rahul is playing, the way he is playing those drives on the overpitched deliveries, Yashasvi also needs to do the same.”
The Border-Gavaskar Trophy is currently level at 1-1. The next match, the Boxing Day Test, will take place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
