Australia series will be true test of young Jaiswal’s talent

Yashasvi Jaiswal was oblivious to the cheers of a handful of spectators as he walked across a soaked M Chinnaswamy Stadium turf on Wednesday, chatting intensely with assistant coach Abhishek Nayar.

There was no pressing demand for him to spend an hour at indoor nets as rain held up the first day’s play of the opening Test between India and New Zealand.

After all, he is going through a roseate phase in Test cricket. But that deep caring for his craft and a focused mind will come in handy when Jaiswal crosses over to Australia next month for the biggest challenge yet in his fledgling career, feels his childhood coach Jwala Singh.

“At this level, it is more about how you handle pressure. You can always work on technique, but if you don’t have the right attitude and mindset then you will end up as a failure. But fortunately, Yashasvi has a mature head on his shoulder,” Jwala said when he was informed about skipper Rohit Sharma’s high evaluation of his younger colleague. “It is even more true when you go and play in Australia because they play some hard cricket there and put a lot of pressure on the opposition,” he added.

He has got the game to play in all sorts of conditions. You can bet on him and expect him to do wonders for the team. We’ve found a great player. Now, it is just about how he manages himself in the next couple of years. —Rohit Sharma, India Captain

As someone who saw Jaiswal from a very young age, Jwala feels that the 21-year-old has grown as a batsman since making his debut in 2023 against the West Indies.

“I think being around players like Rohit and Virat (Kohli) has helped him a lot. After all, there is nothing like learning from such masters,” he said.

Since his baptism in international cricket, Jaiswal has made 1,217 runs in 11 Tests at an average of 64.05 and has three daddy knocks — 171, 209 and 214.

So, what are the changes that he has observed in the left-hander in the last one year or so? “He always has been aggressive as a batsman. Earlier, he had a tendency to attack almost every ball, especially fast bowlers, but now he uses aggression more judiciously. Yashasvi now has more awareness of his game. He has better awareness about which ball to attack and which one to let go. Of course, he has also become a very good fielder now, especially in slip region,” Jwala said.

The trait was visible in Jaiswal’s batting during a breakout series against England earlier this year. It was not entirely surprising then that he became only the second Indian batter after the legendary Sunil Gavaskar to score over 700 in a series.

Rohit had little doubt about the skill level and adaptability of Jaiswal. “He has got the game to play in all sorts of conditions. You can bet on him and expect him to do wonders for the team. We’ve found a great player. Now, it is just about how he manages himself in the next couple of years,” said Rohit.

So far, the signs have been encouraging.