“Ability to back your talent…,” Brian Lara says Yashasvi Jaiswal will need to make mental adjustments for Australia Test tour

Jaiswal has taken the cricketing world by storm with his batting exploits in Test cricket.

By Salman Anjum - 09 Oct, 2024

India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal has taken the cricketing world by storm with his swashbuckling batting exploits in the last one year. He amassed 712 runs at an average of 89 in the five-Test series against England at home earlier this year, which made him the fastest Indian to score 1000 runs in the longest format.

During the recently held Test series against Bangladesh, Jaiswal returned with scores of 56, 10, 72 and 51, helping India seal the series 2-0.

Having proven his mettle in home conditions, the southpaw is now gearing up for the away challenge Down Under. The Indian team is due to tour Australia for five Test matches next month.

Ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, West Indies legend Brian Lara has said that Yashasvi Jaiswal is equipped to "play in any conditions" but will need to make some mental adjustments for the upcoming tour of Australia.

"He has got the ability to play in any conditions. I saw him in the Caribbean. Obviously, the pitches in Australia are slightly different, but if you take that sort of strength that you have, you're going to play good cricket in any conditions. I expect to see him do well," Lara told the media during the launch of the International Masters League.

"I think the adjustment is upstairs. The adjustment is your ability to back your talent in whatever conditions. I say this with a pinch of salt because conditions in India have changed. With the IPL you've got international players coming. You are feeding your players a different level of competition, which is great, so I don't think there's much that he has to do technically," he added.

India have won the last two Test series on Australian soil, and Lara believes the Rohit Sharma-led side has the capability to replicate the same feat.

"I just think, mentally, travelling away from home, playing against Australia on their shores is a different beast. But I believe that the Indian team that I've seen going to Australia over the last couple of occasions, are very capable of winning," he said.

Team India pulled off a remarkable win in the recently held Kanpur Test against Bangladesh despite two days of playing being washed out.

While Lara praised India's aggressive approach to force a result in Kanpur, he said such an outcome is not possible every time.

"(It was) not just (about) the points. It's a situation where India knows that they have the advantage in terms of being the better playing team against Bangladesh, and they've got to put themselves," he said.

"They've got to give themselves the opportunity. I love the way that they went about it in such a short space of time to put Bangladesh under pressure. The performance by India with the bat was always to put Bangladesh under pressure."

"Test cricket is about attrition. Not every single day you're going to have 2-3 days washed out. I want to see a lot of games going into the fourth and the fifth day. I want to see batters holding on, battling if they have to battle. Bowlers being as disciplined as possible."

"That Test match was a Test match where India felt that they have an opportunity to win. But it's not going to happen that way all the time," he further remarked.

(With PTI Inputs)

By Salman Anjum - 09 Oct, 2024

TAGS