Considering himself fortunate to get to play against Jasprit Bumrah in the nets, Yashasvi Jaiswal can look forward to beating the second-season blues.
After an incredible first season, any international cricket player worth his salt will tell you how crucial the second season is. If the opposition is accustomed to his style of play and there is ample on-field information accessible for analysis, then skyrocketing expectations are only one facet of it. Yashasvi Jaiswal can count himself lucky to have faced the finest in the business, Jasprit Bumrah, in the nets before the real action started, as he looks to overcome the second season blues.
Bumrah got the best of the Mumbai teenager on several occasions during Monday’s net session, even sending him cartwheeling off his stump for amusement. Starting here on September 19, Jaiswal would hope that his erratic record in the nets would not carry over into the first Test against Bangladesh.
Having scored over 1000 runs in his first nine Test matches, including over 700 against England in a single series, Jaiswal enters the season with a fierce reputation as one of the next big stars in the game.
Nonetheless, Jaiswal’s detractors will undoubtedly draw attention to the fact that he struggled against pace and bounce on a number of the nine games, particularly those against South Africa on the bouncy grounds of Centurion and Newlands (Cape Town).
Even while the England series, in which he faced a lot of slow bowlers, was a big success, Jaiswal’s true test will come later this year in five Test matches in Australia.
Additionally, Taskin Ahmed and Nahid Rana, two big Bangladeshi speed merchants, will test him with pace and bounce before he meets Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, and Josh Hazlewood.
With two low scores in the Duleep Trophy, where Avesh Khan and Khaleel Ahmed did challenge him with extra bounce—something that is still work in progress—Jaiswal’s first-class season hasn’t exactly gotten off to a good start.
Along with Bumrah, other net bowlers who were able to consistently get past his outside edge included Simarjeet Singh, Gurnoor Brar, and Gurjanpreet Singh.
He was once observed conversing with the renowned Virat Kohli, who attempted to clarify his mistakes.
During their nearly hour-long batting innings, Kohli and Jaiswal each faced about fifty balls.
The signature cover drive and on-drive from Kohli were unleashed throughout this session.
Regarding Jaiswal, his goal was to leave many deliveries unfinished, particularly those from Bumrah.The course featured recent bounce due to the red soil practice pitch, and playing shots were not well executed.
With a few balls that were bowled against Kohli’s pads, Bumrah was also able to cause some minor disruption.
Following Bumrah’s roughly five-over performance, both hitters came up against the practice bowlers.Sometimes he rocked back to play the square cut, but Jaiswal was more at ease against spinners.
And then there was Rishabh Pant, who launched into the Ajit Rams and M Siddharths with ease despite the fact that he has traditionally regarded deliveries from left-arm spinners with little respect.
