28 October,2024 08:16 AM IST | Pune | R Kaushik
Yashasvi Jaiswal. Pic/AFP
It's been a series to forget for the Indian team. Riding the crest of an 18-series winning streak at home, they have been cut to size by Tom Latham's unassuming New Zealand, undone by seam in Bangalore and the accuracy and guile of left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner in Pune.
India's famed batting line-up has been left in tatters. Except for the second innings in Bangalore, India's batters have struggled to even bed in, let alone impose themselves. Tentativeness in footwork has led to a sequence of stunning collapses - 10 for 46 and seven for 54 with the second new ball in Bangalore, nine for 106 and six for 97 between lunch and tea in the second innings in Pune.
One of the few to have shown a semblance of consistency is Yashasvi Jaiswal, at 22 the youngest of India's top order. The left-hander is an acknowledged destroyer of attacks, but in this series, he has also revealed the admirable quality of playing in different gears. His technique has been exemplary, especially against Santner who targeted the batters' front pad with his accurate stump-to-stump line. But he has also displayed excellent awareness and cricketing intelligence, such as when he forced NZ to quickly spread the field and deploy boundary riders as India began their quest for 359 to win in Pune.
During his masterly 77 on the third afternoon, Jaiswal topped 1,000 Test runs at home in a calendar year, joining an elite list that includes little masters Sunil Gavaskar and GR Vishwanath. He has made these runs with flair, panache and great commonsense and composure, commendable traits with the first serious examination of his fledgling career, a five-Test tour of Australia, imminent.
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Jaiswal's consistency is his USP over the last 10 months. Between Hyderabad in January and Pune now, he has scored at least a half-century in eight out of nine home Tests. There are also knocks of 209 and 214 not out in consecutive games against England, apart from one score in the 80s and three others of more than 70. He has batted differently, too. In Bangalore when the ball was darting around, he occupied the crease for 102 minutes and faced 63 deliveries, scoring 13, but in Pune when India needed to make the early running in the second innings, he smashed the second ball of the chase for six, scoring 77 off just 65.
Reasonably insulating himself from the propensity to get carried away for one so young - he has only played 13 Tests - Jaiswal will look to make his first Test at his home ground, the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, memorable for all the right reasons. Evidence indicates that there's no reason why he can't succeed in that endeavour.
