Guwahati: Yashasvi Jaiswal may have to temporarily shelve his trademark cut shot, much like Sachin Tendulkar once abandoned the drive in Australia, suggested South Africa pace great Dale Steyn after the India opener fell to the stroke yet again in the second Test here on Tuesday.
Jaiswal was dismissed for 13 in India’s second innings on day four, edging Marco Jansen while attempting a cut to a short-of-length delivery outside off, something that has troubled him repeatedly.
“It’s his go-to shot, and breaking that instinct is tough. When you see the ball in your zone, you go for it. But maybe it’s something he needs to consciously cut down on,” Jiostar expert Steyn said on the ‘Cricket Live’ programme.
“I remember Sachin once removed the drive from his game in Australia. Jaiswal may also need to say, ‘Unless it’s in a specific area, I won’t play it. In this area, I’ll trust my defence.”
Set an improbable target of 549, India needed a strong opening stand, but Jaiswal was caught by wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne after flashing at the rising ball.
“It was a bit of a false shot by Jaiswal. It’s his default option — he likes playing that shot,” Steyn said.
“He is probably so used to right-arm bowlers angling the ball across him that playing that shot feels natural. But with Marco Jansen being a left-armer, it looks like the ball will angle away and give him room, but very often it’s tighter than he expects.
“That’s why he sometimes drags the ball back onto his stumps or edges it. As it pitches, it often straightens instead of going across, and that’s how it finds the edge — either side of the bat — leading to bowled, caught in slips, or caught behind.”
Indian spin legend Anil Kumble also termed the dismissal avoidable.
“It was a poor shot from Yashasvi Jaiswal. They certainly tested both the openers, and Jaiswal in particular got a lot of short-pitched deliveries from Marco Jansen. Eventually, he fell playing his favourite cut shot — a shot he has scored many runs from, but also gets out to. He was trying to force the pace and ended up getting out to Jansen.”
“When you’re looking to score runs and when short deliveries keep coming, you feel that’s the only scoring option. Even the first ball Jaiswal faced in this innings was a short one that hit his glove.”
Kumble said Jaiswal’s tendency to fall back created the illusion of width.
“Naturally he thought, ‘if it’s short and there’s any width, I’ll go for it’. But if you look at his footwork, he tends to fall back, which makes him believe there is room when there really isn’t. That’s probably why he went after the ball without control,” he said.
“The transfer of weight has to happen when you play the cut shot. Unfortunately for Jaiswal, the ball took the outside edge and went straight to the wicketkeeper.”
