Despite his brilliant century in the first Test against England at Leeds, Yashasvi Jaiswal is under scrutiny—not for his batting, but for his fielding. While his performance with the bat continues to earn praise, his inconsistency in the slip cordon has raised concerns within the Indian team management.
Four Drops Raise Alarms in Leeds
Jaiswal, during the series opener, dropped four crucial catches that allowed England to stay in the contest. Many in the camp believe those missed chances were a major reason for India’s 5-wicket defeat.
Gambhir’s Intense Session With Jaiswal
Ahead of the second Test at Edgbaston, head coach Gautam Gambhir personally took time to work with Jaiswal, focusing on improving his close-catching technique.
A report from RevSportz described the exchange as “intense” and noted that “Gambhir didn’t look happy with Jaiswal at all.” It was reported that the two had a fairly animated conversation, emphasizing the importance of fielding discipline in a tight series.
Fielding Role Likely To Be Reassigned
According to assistant coach Ryan Ten Doeschate, India may consider shifting Jaiswal out of the slip cordon.
“𝑾𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕. 𝑰𝒏 𝑬𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅, 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆. 𝒀𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒗𝒊 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒂 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒖𝒔,” 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝑻𝒆𝒏 𝑫𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆.
He further explained the reasoning behind the potential change:
“𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆’𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒖𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒈 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒇 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒔. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒈𝒖𝒚𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏.”
Sore Hands, Confidence a Concern
The Dutch coach hinted that Jaiswal’s physical condition could also be a factor.
“𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒀𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒗𝒊 𝒂 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆. 𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒆. 𝑾𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒖𝒑,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅.
Also Read: Jaiswal Withdraws NOC, Will Stay With Mumbai For Domestic Season
