Cheteshwar Pujara urges Yashasvi Jaiswal to be cautious while driving against the new ball in Australia, wants opener to learn from KL Rahul

India’s veteran batter Cheteshwar Pujara has urged Yashasvi Jaiswal to be cautious while driving against the new ball in Australia. Jaiswal was dismissed for only four runs on the third day of the third Test match at the Gabba, Brisbane on Monday.

The left-hander attempted a drive on the first ball of the innings but was lucky to get a boundary in the third-man region. Jaiswal was caught at square leg on the second ball by Mitchell Marsh and once again was dismissed by Mitchell Starc.

“Someone needs to tell him that you cannot drive the new ball in Australia. He is searching for full deliveries. He knows that he can score a few runs with drives against the new ball, but it’s very difficult to drive the new ball, and he is searching for that ball only. You need to drive like KL Rahul, only when the ball pitches close to your body,” Cheteshwar Pujara said on Star Sports.

“When you search for deliveries, you make more errors. Someone needs to tell him to change his mindset slightly. There is no problem if you defend a few balls because you are playing Test cricket. You need to understand which ball to defend and which ball to attack,” Pujara observed.

Pujara lauded Mitchell Starc for his impressive bowling against the left-handers in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar series.

“Mitchell Starc’s bowling has been exceptional against left-handed batters, not only in this series but also if you see a few previous series. I feel Mitchell Starc is the standout bowler in this series because his control of the new ball has improved a lot,” he replied.

Pujara wants in-form KL Rahul to take strike in the first over against Mitchell Starc as he feels Jaiswal is struggling against the veteran pacer.

“Since Yashasvi is facing the first over, he is having more difficulties. I would want right-handed batter KL Rahul to face Mitchell Starc because we have seen that Yashasvi is getting out very early in the first over itself. He might survive if he doesn’t get the strike,” Pujara observed.

India are currently 178-6, the visitors still need 68 runs to avoid the follow-on.