Young Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal has come under attack from South African fast bowler Marco Johnson as he was once again dismissed cheaply by a fast ball on the fourth day of the ongoing second and final Test at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati.
Yashasvi Jaiswal’s troubles against South Africa’s pace attack continued in the final Test in Guwahati as he fell cheaply to Marco Johnson before stumps on the fourth day. Chasing a mammoth target of 549, Jaiswal came out with determination but once again fell victim to his favorite cut shot.
Yashasvi Jaiswal becomes Marco Johnson’s bunny
The ball was short and outside the off stump and the left-handed opening batsman tried to hit it with full force. However, he misjudged the ball and it was edged. The ball went straight to wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne, who took a simple catch behind the stumps.
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Jaiswal looked disappointed when he returned after scoring 13 runs off 20 balls against South Africa, which included a four and a six. This wicket further increased Jaiswal’s growing struggle against left-arm fast bowlers in Tests. Since his debut, he has scored 291 runs using the cut shot, but has been out seven times attempting to do so.
Interestingly, the Indian opener was dismissed thrice by Marco Johnson in the Test. In the traditional format of the game, the Mumbaikar scored just 42 runs off 73 balls at an average of 14 and a strike rate of 57.53 against South Africa’s left-arm pacers.
South Africa’s left arm fast bowling remains a tough challenge for Yashasvi Jaiswal.
While the cut has been a productive shot, it also brings a risk factor into the pressure. Overall, Jaiswal has played 68 risky cut attempts in Tests, averaging 41.57 when executed correctly.
Apart from this, Jaiswal’s struggle against South African left-arm fast bowlers in Test cricket is also surprising. Jaiswal has scored a total of 63 runs in 109 balls against the South African left-arm fast bowlers, but he has been out 6 times and his batting average is 10.5.
Jaiswal’s strike rate is 57.79, which shows that he is not able to attack or score freely against the Proteas fast bowlers. Overall, this highlights that left-arm pace has been a real weakness for the Indian opener in the longest format of the game.
Also read: ‘Being compared to Shubman Gill is Yashasvi Jaiswal’s biggest achievement’: Twitter reacts to the opener’s failure in the Guwahati Test
Yashasvi Jaiswal joins Sachin Tendulkar in 20-Fifty club before 24
Meanwhile, Yashasvi Jaiswal has scored a brilliant half-century in the first innings against South Africa in Guwahati. His calm and focused 58 off 97 balls put Jaiswal in rare company. With this innings, Jaiswal became only the second Indian, after Sachin Tendulkar, to score 20 or more fifty-plus scores in Test cricket before the age of 24.
Overall, very few players have reached this milestone so early in their career. Tendulkar leads the list with 29 fifties, followed by Ramnaresh Sarwan (25), Alastair Cook (23), Javed Miandad (22) and Kane Williamson (20). All these players have scored 20 or more fifties in Tests before the age of 24.
Notably, at stumps on day four, India started the final day in Guwahati at 27/2 with Kuldeep Yadav and Sai Sudarshan. The hosts still need 522 runs to win the game and that is an impossible target, but they may struggle for a draw against the Proteas team.
