Follow UsAfter a century in the first day of the series at Headingley and then another 87 in the first innings of the second Test at Edgbaston, Yashasvi Jaiswal was tipped for a massive debut series in England. In fact, it almost looked inevitable that Jaiswal would end up having a 500-run series, if not more.
But the much-anticipated tour of England has ended up taking an unexpected turn for the youngster, who is now finishing the series in forgettable fashion, unable to buy a run at the top of the order.
Asked to bat first on a green top, Jaiswal, today at The Oval, misjudged an in-ducker from Gus Atkinson and played along the wrong line as he was trapped in front for just 2. It was his fourth score under 15 in the last five innings, bringing his average across the last three Tests to a mere 14.60.
He now is averaging 32.55 in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, the second-lowest among all specialist batters who have played the entire series, only ahead of Zak Crawley (30.28).
Jaiswal’s downfall in the series has been a direct byproduct of the England seamers’ ploy to consciously bowl ‘round the wicket to him, rectifying the mistake they committed across the first two Tests.
Across the Headingley and Edgbaston games, where Jaiswal amassed 220 runs in total, the England seamers bowled 75% of the deliveries to Jaiswal from over the wicket, of which he scored 153 runs and was not dismissed even once.
Yet they’ve done a complete 180 in their plans across the last three Tests, where they’ve bowled 74.28% of the deliveries to the left-hander from ‘round the wicket. And in these games the 23-year-old has averaged just 17 from ‘round the wicket, getting dismissed thrice.
Overall in this series, Jaiswal is averaging 171 from over the wicket compared to just 14.1 from ‘round the wicket.
The youngster has one innings to redeem himself and come up with a plan to combat England’s tactics. Another failure would end up turning this series into one to forget for Jaiswal, which is a shame considering how strongly the tour began for him.