BGT 2024-25: Cheteshwar Pujara pinpoints Yashasvi Jaiswal’s batting loopholes; urges to follow KL Rahul’s template
Live MintYashasvi Jaiswal might have made heads turn with his scintillating hundred in Perth against Australia, but the Indian opener has been inconsistent thereafter in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Former India cricketer Cheteshwar Pujara took a note of what's going wrong with Jaiswal and cited Virender Sehwag's examples on how to play as an opener in Test cricket. He should only play shots if he is quite sure about it, especially in the first 5-10 overs because it seems that he is in a hurry to score runs, he wants a quick start, and he wants to score those first 15-20 runs quickly,” Pujara told Star Sports on Jaiswal. “There are a lot of aggressive batters and openers in Test Cricket today but they play the shots when the ball is pitched in the hitting zone, but here it looks like Yashasvi is trying to convert the shots, he is trying to drive the deliveries which are not pitched up,” added Pujara, who last played for India in 2023. “He needs to be a bit calm, he needs to spend a bit more time, if he will show some confidence on his defence then that’s when he’ll come across some shot playing deliveries because the moment when you show some respect to the bowlers and you defend well then they’ll look forward to getting a wicket and gradually they’ll starting pitching the ball a bit up and that’s when you can play those drives.