Sunil Gavaskar, ex-skipper of the Indian cricket team, praised Yashasvi Jaiswal’s impressive 200 runs in the second Vizag Test vs. England. India’s victory, a win by 106 runs, tied up the five-game Test series at 1-1.
Sunil Gavaskar saw Jaiswal as a ‘quick learner’. This after his second Test triumph. Oddly, Yashasvi Jaiswal had lost it back in the 80s during the first Test held in Hyderabad.
Gavaskar also emphasized the significance of Jaiswal’s effort, noting that no other hitter scored 35 in the first innings, although the hosts racked up 396 runs before building a 143-run advantage.
Jaiswal scored 209 runs off 290 balls, including seven sixes and 19 boundaries. Shubman Gill scored the second-most runs, 34, in the same inning. Five hitters received starts, scoring in the 30s and 20s but failing to produce a huge hit.
Sunil Gavaskar writes in his latest Mid-Day column:
“Yashasvi Jaiswal showed he is a quick learner by making sure he didn’t miss out on a hundred as he did in the first Test match by scoring a magnificent double century in the second Test.”
Sunil Gavaskar
He continued:
“India certainly needed someone to hold the innings together with a big century as once again most of the other batters got going like they did in the first Test and then gifted their wickets away.”
Sunil Gavaskar
Sunil Gavaskar laments India’s batting woes in 2nd Test despite Jaiswal and Gill’s heroics
Sunil Gavaskar suggested that T20 cricket is the main reason for Indian players’ shortcomings, including India captain Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer, among others.
The ex-player, now a commentator, suggests traditional cricket tactics for scoring high in Test matches. He penned his thoughts in the same column:
“With the advent of T20 cricket and the need there to play unexpected shots, the temperament of the batters can sometimes be badly affected. The thinking that they can play an unorthodox shot and get away with it regularly can and does get them out.”
Sunil Gavaskar
Rohit and Iyer, in particular, will be seeking to make amends in the third Test at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot, which begins on February 15.