IND vs ENG 2nd Test: Yashasvi Jaiswal helped lay the platform for India in Birmingham

Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill

He started with a few plays and misses. Chris Woakes was bowling a wonderful spell and you needed some luck to survive. The umpires call was exactly that for Yashasvi Jaiswal. From my position in the press box, exactly behind the bowlers arm, it looked very close. In fact, when the England captain asked for the review I was nervous. But that’s what sport is all about. That little bit of luck that can change things for a player. Jaiswal, to his credit, stayed put and showed resilience. He wasn’t afraid to try the expansive drive every now and then but then each time he missed, a few steps towards the square leg umpire was evidence he wasn’t willing to give up.

There was one occasion of the bowling of Shoaib Bashir that sums up his resolve. The ball was pitched on leg stump and Jaiswal tried to flick it down the leg side. It hit his pad and went towards off. No damage was done but had he actually got bat on ball, he could have fallen into the trap. England had a fielder just there stationed for this chance and Jaiswal, to his frustration, had missed noticing the fielder. It was the last ball of the over and he walked up to his skipper indicating the fielder and expressing his dissatisfaction. It was as if he was asking Gill why he wasn’t told that the fielder had been brought in there.

It is the hunger that defines Jaiswal. Once he gets in, he converts. He scores hundreds and that’s what makes him a key batter at the top of India’s order. He was stellar in Leeds and today he was as good. When you lose the toss and you are sent in, it is key that you put a price on your wicket and bat on. That’s what he did and was in the end it was a good effort.

Make no mistake he would have wanted the hundred badly. When you are playing two spinners, you need big runs on the board in the first innings. That’s your chance of putting England under pressure and that’s what Jaiswal was helping India do. That he got out when he was all set for the 100 will frustrate him no end. And now it is on his other teammates to capitalise on the start and put a big total on the board and make a match of it.