‘Yashasvi’ Jaiswal, the first part of his name itself translates to ‘success’, continues to live up to it. For him to collect accolades in the cricketing landscape, Jaiswal hasn’t just mastered the art of repeating the fundamentals of batsmanship in the practice arena; he also comes across as a very good listener. We saw glimpses of that in the third ODI between India and South Africa in Vizag, where he cracked his maiden ODI hundred. The connecting thread is that, on the eve of the game, after his net session, Jaiswal had long conversations with the India head coach and the rest of the support staff.
Here’s what Gautam Gambhir said about what he wanted Jaiswal to internalise: “If you play 30 overs like one-day cricket and with the quality that Jaiswal has, if he can bat till 30 overs, there is no doubt he will be close to a hundred. Even after that, you have 20 overs left, which you can look at as a T20 match. It is only about finding a template. This was just Jaiswal’s fourth game. The moment he figures out which tempo he needs to bat in one-day cricket, the sky’s the limit.”
To understand the context behind that statement, we have to go back to the second ODI between the same sides in Raipur. Early in his innings, Jaiswal attempted a slew of shots, including the reverse sweep. Eventually, he was dismissed while trying to pull a well-directed short ball from Marco Jansen.
During that innings, it was evident that Jaiswal was still developing the muscle memory required for 50-over cricket. The tempo of ODI cricket is such that a batter doesn’t need to be overly aggressive. And unlike Test cricket, the fields are largely defensive. So, if a batter takes too many risks, he could find himself trudging back to the pavilion. In modern ODI cricket, the tracks don’t offer much for bowlers, allowing a batter to bide their time before going on the attack.
In the final ODI, at one point, Jaiswal was 49 off 74 balls. Upfront, he also had to negotiate a couple of testing overs where the ball nipped around. However, he never pressed the panic button.
Only after completing his fifty did he accelerate, ultimately finishing with 116 off 121 deliveries. He had, indeed, listened to the coaching staff’s advice.
Incidentally, Jaiswal has played only 36 List A games. With the shortest format gaining popularity, 50-over cricket seems to have taken a back seat. One outcome is that young batters coming through the ranks often struggle to adjust to the different rhythms of ODI cricket. The same applied to Jaiswal. But the left-hander is a quick learner, a gift from somewhere above to aid his pursuit of excellence. After all, he is ‘Yashasvi’ Jaiswal.
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