England offers polished wooden boards to get your name etched on, and the Barmy Army’s silly serenades to silence. But overcast conditions and whimsical swing of English bowlers can test the Indian batting phalanx. The Indian Express looks at what challenges await three frontline Indian batsmen
During the WTC final, broadcasters showed a picture of Yashasvi Jaiswal on the screen. On air, then, was the popular commentator Ian Smith who raved, “What a brash young talent.” Perfectly chosen words from the grizzled veteran for Jaiswal’s brashness would be tested in the five Test series in England.
He had started well with a match-winning hundred at the Perth Test in Australia late last year, but had slowly petered out by the time that series ended. England offers him another opportunity to make the cricketing world look at him with respect – and widen the adjective list beyond talent.
It’s what made him whimper out in Australia after the bright start that needs attention, as it’s going to determine his success in England. He seems to be the type who gets easily carried away in the heat of the moment – by well-timed words from opposition or by his urge to dominate a potentially ‘big’ occasion.
There were a couple of moments, rather phases, from that Australian Test series that are worth cuing up. The first came in the second innings of the first Test at Perth. It was a very nervous start from Jaiswal, who it seemed almost couldn’t prevent himself from playing a rash shot every now and then. It was the calming presence of KL Rahul that saved the day there.
Nearly every time Jaiswal flirted with danger – a flashy drive, an ambitious cut, or a predetermined sashay down the track, Rahul would walk across to him for a chat. Often, Jaiswal would walk to meet him mid-pitch, nod his head, and retreat to cut out any unnecessary frills from his game for the next phase. Small little things, but Tests are often lost, if not won, due to those lapses. Later, Jaiswal spoke about how Rahul kept telling him to breathe and calm down.
Resultantly, Jaiswal made his slowest Test fifty (off 123 balls) of his career. Near the end of the day, when Jaiswal ensured the tiring Aussies were put to the sword, Rahul didn’t intervene. It was the first 150+ opening stand by a visiting team in Australia since 2010 – and it helped India win the game on the back of Jasprit Bumrah’s brilliance.
The next moment came at a vital stage in the series when India lost their grip on the BGT trophy — in the last session on the final day of the fourth Test at Melbourne, when a draw was well within their grasp. By then, Australia had realised that Jaiswal can be pushed and triggered into something rash.
At one stage, after tea, Pat Cummins placed at silly point Sam Konstas who chirped away at Jaiswal. The young Indian was somewhat disturbed by it as he would pull away from the strike at the last instant at least once, and point at the teenager. Rishabh Pant would rush from the non-striker’s end to calm him down, a scene that kept occurring often in that crucial phase. Pant would gesture at Jaiswal to take deep breaths and calm down, and nod encouragingly when Jaiswal settled down again with punchy drives off Nathan Lyon and Travis Head. But when Pant himself combusted, Jaiswal was left with no senior to mentor him.
Konstas had the reputation in domestic cricket as the lippy kid, who loves to annoy batsmen with constant chatter. And he not only kept at Jaiswal, but also gestured the Australian fans to get into the act, whipping up their emotions. The Bay 13, the famously barracking Australian crowd of lore, had seemingly spread all around the park. Thunderous hollering ensued. And it wasn’t a surprise, when Jaiswal went rather hard at a pull to a short ball down leg side from Cummins, only to edge it behind. Game over.
Even if they didn’t follow that India-Australia series closely, England would know from their own experience. In a series in India last year, James Anderson had gone at Jaiswal at a vital juncture on the third day of the Test at Rajkot. Anderson moved in to pack a ring of men close and in Jaiswal’s eyeline. An arc of fielders from short cover to short midwicket. ‘C’mon show me what you got!’ seemed to be the bait. It was also perhaps to make Jaiswal try to go wider of this ring, which would have meant he would have had to play across the line to a reversing ball. And Jaiswal exploded, crashing Anderson all around the park. So that seems to be his method of response when put under pressure, especially with a few verbals.