No Kohli, no Gill, Brian Lara feels this Indian cricketer can play in any conditions

Brian Lara (Pic: File Pic)

West Indies legend Brian Lara feels that Team India opening batsman Yashasvi Jaiswal can play in any conditions. The former West Indies' cricketer further stated that Jaiswal needs to make some mental adjustments for the upcoming "Border-Gavaskar Trophy."

In 2024, Yashasvi Jaiswal has smashed 929 runs in eight Test matches. He also has two centuries and six half-centuries putting him as the leading run-scorer for India in 2024.

"He has got the ability to play in any conditions. I saw him in the Caribbean. Obviously, the pitches in Australia are slightly different, but if you take that sort of strength that you have, you're going to play good cricket in any conditions."

"I expect to see him do well," Brian Lara told the media during the launch of the International Masters League. The West Indies great said Jaiswal will need to make some mental adjustments to continue his success Down Under.

"I think the adjustment is upstairs," said Lara, pointing towards his head when asked if the Indian opener will have to make any adjustments.

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"The adjustment is your ability to back your talent in whatever conditions. I say this with a pinch of salt because conditions in India have changed.

"With the IPL you've got international players coming. You are feeding your players a different level of competition, which is great, so I don't think there's much that he has to do technically," he added.

"I just think, mentally, travelling away from home, playing against Australia on their shores is a different beast. But I believe that the Indian team that I've seen going to Australia over the last couple of occasions, are very capable of winning," he said.

Alongside Jaiswal, Brian Lara also picked Abhishek Sharma as the most exciting Indian batsmen right now.

"Jaiswal and Abhishek Sharma. First of all, they're left-handers. They're very young. They play the game in a style, very attacking and very stylish," he said.

"Of course the relationship I have had with them over the last couple of years has been very special. It's great to see them go from strength to strength," he added.

Brian Lara said for Indian team to achieve success, it will be crucial to have a good plan ahead of the five-match Test series against Australia.

"You have got to have a plan. And your plan has to be something that when it comes to fruition, you get the success," he said.

"When you're coming up against Australia, you've got to have a damn good plan, and you've got to be able to soak in pressure because they're going to apply a lot of pressure."

"From an Indian scenario, they've got to play good cricket. They've got to believe in themselves and they've got to play each session at a time. They can't think way beyond that," he added.

Speaking about the Kanpur Test, Brian Lara said that such an outcome is not possible every time.

"(It was) not just (about) the points. It's a situation where India knows that they have the advantage in terms of being the better playing team against Bangladesh, and they've got to put themselves," he said.
"They've got to give themselves the opportunity. I love the way that they went about it in such a short space of time to put Bangladesh under pressure. The performance by India with the bat was always to put Bangladesh under pressure."

"Test cricket is about attrition. Not every single day you're going to have 2-3 days washed out. I want to see a lot of games going into the fourth and the fifth day. I want to see batters holding on, battling if they have to battle. Bowlers being as disciplined as possible."

"That Test match was a Test match where India felt that they have an opportunity to win. But it's not going to happen that way all the time," said Lara.

(With PTI Inputs)