Yashasvi Jaiswal got out in a disappointing fashion on Day 3 of the Gabba Test against Australia.
Jaiswal was dismissed by Mitchell Starc once again, this time on the second delivery of India’s innings. The left-handed opener flicked a delivery on his pads uppishly and right down the throat of Mitchell Marsh, who was stationed at short mid-wicket.
Jaiswal had opened his account with a thick edge for four, but his early dismissal was a big blow for the visitors as they try to haul down Australia’s formidable first-innings total of 445.
His soft dismissal also led to some tongue-in-cheek criticism from former England skipper Michael Vaughan.
Right before the start of India’s innings, Jaiswal was seen warming up against some throwdowns and flicked a delivery off his legs in the direction of the Australian players in a huddle. The shot lightly hit a cameraman near the huddle, and made the Australian players jump out of a small shock.
As Jaiswal fell to the same shot in the match, Vaughan took a dig at the 22-year-old when he was on commentary duties for Fox Sports.
“Five minutes before Jaiswal got out, this is the shot he practiced that whip through mid-wicket, wonderful shot and good balance,” said Vaughan. “And then you go into the match and it’s the same shot but he goes aerial, just flicks it. It was the pressure of the game, in practice it’s perfect.”
When the ball went near the Australian huddle, Vaughan saw the funny side of it and remarked: “That’s one way of getting ahead of the game… he’s just trying to take out Mitchell Starc before the game starts.”
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri, who was also part of the commentary panel, agreed with Vaughan’s assessment.
“Can you imagine the catch would be there? The man just in front of square, acres of space on the on side and Jaiswal hits it straight to the fielder,” Shastri said.
Jaiswal has now been dismissed within Starc’s opening spell three times in the ongoing Test series. The southpaw was dismissed for an eight-ball duck by the left-arm quick in the first innings of Perth Test, but he bounced back in the second dig and produced a match-winning knock of 161.
During the pink-ball Test in Adelaide, Starc proved to be nemesis of Jaiswal in the first innings, dismissing the young opener for a golden duck. He went on to score 24 off 31 balls in the second essay before being dismissed by Scott Boland.