For Jaiswal, time to take fresh guard at Old Trafford

The Hindu

3 days ago

As Yashasvi Jaiswal hit the nets at the Beckenham County Ground, India's bowling coach Morne Morkel rushed to the bowling end.
Over the next thirty-odd minutes, the South African bowled to him at regular intervals. While Jaiswal looked at ease, picking up Morkel's line and length, it seemed to be a planned move to counter Jofra Archer, who dismissed the Indian batter in both innings of the Lord's Test.
Assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate, however, said there were no such plans, and Morkel bowled in the nets since Jasprit Bumrah and Akash Deep took rest.
But after every few deliveries, Morkel walked up to Jaiswal and discussed a thing or two, and even after the former South African pacer went to the other end to monitor the other bowlers, Jaiswal had another long session, facing the local net bowlers.
Jaiswal started the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy with a century in Leeds and followed up with an 87 in Birmingham. However, things went awry at Lord's as he struggled to get going and fell to Archer on both occasions - for 13 and 0.
More than the scores, his shot selection in the second innings drew flak. At a time when every run mattered, Jaiswal needed to hold fort. Going for an ambitious pull against Archer, he ended up offering a catch to Jamie Smith.
Having been beaten by Chris Woakes a few times in the previous over seemed to have rattled him, as he was tempted to go for that pull shot
While the social media went abuzz with fans raising questions about his temperament, former England fast bowler Stuart Broad, too, did not mince words. 'So, Jaiswal getting out, really bad shot, I'm surprised he just didn't look to cut it over the off-side. Suddenly England are like okay, we are in. He is the player who moves the scoreboard forward. In a low chase, when you are defending, if you come to bowl and you've got a Sehwag, Warner, the opening batters that can take the game away from you and they up 60 for none or one off ten, the game is sort of done,' Broad said on For The Love Of Cricket podcast.
This, however, was not the first instance when a poor shot cost Jaiswal his wicket. At Edgbaston, as England captain Ben Stokes lured him into slashing outside the off-stump, he was caught behind. In the second innings, he was trapped leg before off a Josh Tongue delivery, while attempting a drive.
As CricViz data shows, of the 233 runs that he has scored in the series so far, 77 have come through drives, while 51 through cuts, while he has left 49 deliveries in the six innings so far. However, he has fallen twice trying to play defensive shots on the backfoot, and drives on as many occasions.
With the Old Trafford surface expected to be slightly easy-paced, it will be important for Jaiswal to value his wicket and be consistent.
He looked promising in the nets. It's time to walk the talk.