Former Indian World Cup winner Zaheer Khan has highlighted the reasons why Yashasvi Jaiswal deserves more recognition for his outstanding performance against England in the first innings of the first test in Hyderabad. The left-handed opener played a counter-attacking innings that put the Indian team on the front foot at the end of Day 1.
In the final session, Jaiswal played an aggressive knock and took on the English bowlers from the word go. He produced his first Test half-century at home, leading India to a dominant position over the visitors.
Speaking on Colors Cineplex, Zaheer Khan praised Yashasvi Jaiswal for his impressive batting against England on the opening day. He also highlighted the youngster’s all-around batting style and asserted that Jaiswal has all the attributes to put pressure on quality bowlers. Finally, he lauded Jaiswal for his positive mindset in the game.
“That’s why he needs to be praised more. He got full marks for whatever questions were asked of him. If someone is a good front-foot player, the bowler tries to make him play more off the back foot. If someone does not use his feet, you try to bowl a little slower as a spinner and force him to use his feet.
“If you have all those attributes, you can put pressure on any bowler. We got to see some amazing shots off both the front and back foot. The positive mindset was evident from the first ball,” Zaheer Khan said.
Jaiswal went on to score an unbeaten 76 runs off 70 balls including three sixes and nine fours taking the England spinners. The Indian opener added 80 runs for the first wicket with skipper Rohit, who was dismissed for 24 off 27 balls in the 12th over playing a false shot. Shubman Gill and Jaiswal guided India to 119-1 in 23 overs against the Bazball side.
Yashasvi Jaiswal batted with freedom and authority while maintaining balance, and elegance in the batting. He utilized his feet brilliantly, dancing down the track to drive through the off-side when the ball was thrown up, or digging deep in his stance and pulling when it was dropped short. The young batter has added a fresh of breath air to the Indian batting since his debut in the longer format of the game and he would be keen on contributing to the team’s success in red-ball cricket.