After Yashasvi Jaiswal was cheaply dismissed on Day 1 of the fifth Test at The Oval, Sunil Gavaskar has expressed concern about the young batter's recent downturn and pointed out a crucial technical flaw in his game. Gus Atkinson trapped the left-hander, who had started the England series in a dominant manner, leg before wicket for just two runs as India came under early pressure after being put to bat.
The pattern of removal was familiar: Jaiswal was beaten by the ball that darted in from around the wicket, an attack that has revealed a weakness in his armour more and more as the series has gone on. Speaking on Sony Sports, Gavaskar identified the specific problem, pointing out that Jaiswal's front foot alignment and movement have both declined.
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“There’s a bit of uncertainty and maybe a lack of confidence creeping into Jaiswal's game. After scoring a hundred in the first Test, he hasn’t looked very fluent,” Gavaskar said.
“That’s possibly why he's not getting his front foot far enough forward to smother this return. But he's a good player. I think if someone sits with him and works on a few technical aspects—like getting his front foot forward and not opening up his shoulder too much—it could help.”
Gavaskar went into further detail on the mechanism underlying the defect: “Right now, his back shoulder is going towards first or second slip, which makes it hard for the bat to come down straight. If his shoulder stayed more towards the wicketkeeper and first slip, the bat would come down straighter.”
The dismissal of Jaiswal carried on a concerning pattern. He started the series with two Test scores of 101 and 87, but since then, his form has drastically declined. He has only reached fifty once in his last five innings. Notably, his previously impressive average of 116 against right-arm seamers from around the wicket has nosedived to just 24.7 in this series, with seven of his dismissals coming from that very angle.
With one hundred and two fifties to his credit, his series total now stands at 293 runs from nine innings at an average of 32.55. Even though those figures might not seem bad for an away tour, the current pattern has revealed a glaring weakness that teams are progressively taking advantage of.
India closed Day 1 at 204 for 6 in 64 overs, with rain interruptions bringing an early end to proceedings. Making a comeback after missing the fourth Test, Karun Nair displayed solid composure to remain unbeaten on 52, while Washington Sundar was not out on 19 at stumps.
Gus Atkinson and Josh Tongue each took two wickets for England, and Chris Woakes took one.
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