Former Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin slammed Yashasvi Jaiswal after the left-hander was dismissed cheaply on the opening day of the fifth Test match against England. Jaiswal was plumbed in front of the wickets by Gus Atkinson after scoring only two runs.
Ashwin noted that Jaiswal looked indecisive in his game plan and thus he was dismissed cheaply. The left-hander could not get any bat to the incoming delivery and looked a bit perplexed in his technique.
“Jaiswal will never be a Sai Sudharsan. We cannot compare both. Why did he get out yesterday? He was indecisive. The ball was seaming around a bit. He didn’t really have a game plan to counter those conditions. If you are not clear in your head, you can sometimes get into that sort of a tangle. He was very far, he missed that ball by a long way. Jaiswal will never be able to have soft hands. He must defend a bit with soft hands. That will take some time,” Ravichandran Ashwin said on ‘Ash ki Baat’.
Ashwin feels Jaiswal will need to make some changes in his batting technique as a Test opener and advised the southpaw to play with softer hands.
“I think he has to work a bit. As an opener, look to play the ball with soft hands. It is not a massive problem. I know that boy. He can overcome it. Great attitude, great appetite for runs, and great hunger. It is expected from a youngster, he is playing probably his second long series after Australia. Maybe on the next tour, when he comes, he knows what he needs to do. I think even a second-innings good knock is not very far away.”
On the other hand, Karun Nair scored an unbeaten knock of 52 runs as he batted at the top of his game on a difficult pitch.
Praising Nair, Ashwin said, “Whoever wrote his obituary, please take it back. There is a popular opinion that he should be out. These guys giving this popular opinion, how many times have they gone and seen his journey? In the five years of his first-class journey, how much mental stress he has had, and from where he has turned things around, and how he has performed for Vidarbha. How many people would have spent time and followed his scorecard? How many people know how the first-class journey is? So I really hope and pray for him to make this big. It is a redemption of a first-class cricketer.”
India ended the day’s play at 204-6 with Nair and Washington Sundar at the crease.
