Sunil Gavaskar, ex-India captain, commended Yashasvi Jaiswal for his double century in the second Test against England in Vizag. India won the match by 106 runs, leveling the five-match Test series 1-1. Gavaskar, aged 74, praised Jaiswal as a ‘quick learner,’ acknowledging his improvement in the second Test after missing an opportunity in the 80s during the first match in Hyderabad.
Additionally, Gavaskar highlighted the significance of Jaiswal’s innings, emphasizing that no other batsman managed to score more than 35 in the first innings. Despite this, the hosts reached a total of 396, securing a substantial 143-run lead. Jaiswal hammered 209 runs from 290 deliveries, featuring seven sixes and 19 boundaries in an impactful innings. Shubman Gill followed as the second-highest run-scorer with 34 in the same inning.
While five batsmen initiated promising starts, accumulating scores in the 30s and 20s, they fell short of delivering a substantial innings. In his recent Mid-Day column, Sunil Gavaskar expressed:
“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.” 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.”
“The temperament of the batters can sometimes be badly affected” –Gavaskar hailed Jaiswal and Gill as batting standouts in the 2nd Test
Sunil Gavaskar suggested that the struggles of Indian players, including captain Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer, can be attributed to the prominence of T20 cricket. The former cricketer turned commentator advocates for players to focus on traditional cricket to achieve significant success in Test matches.
“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.”
Rohit and Iyer, especially, will be aiming for improvement in the third Test at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot, commencing on February 15.
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