If you were to think of it, then you’d realise that the dynamics of Indian Cricket particularly at the Test level have changed to a certain degree. No longer is the team solely dependent on the exceptional batting prowess of a certain Virat Kohli to take it home.
At the same time, Rohit Sharma, the victorious captain against England, isn’t heavily depended upon to guide the team over the ropes.
In a refreshing turn of events, the team doesn’t recede to a halt even as KL Rahul, who’s been darn unlucky to have missed out on several contests in the past months (at both home and away), isn’t available for selection.
The current firmament of Indian cricket is being helmed by a bold gush of energy. It attacks anything that comes in its way. It plays with little held back.
Today, for all he’s done in a career that is still growing, still developing, it is hard to imagine the current Indian side in the absence of Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Young gun going strong
In some ways, it’s a bit stunning and surprising in equal measure in that Indian Cricket is being served passionately and sturdily by a batsman who is all of 22, not a day old.
And Jaiswal served an ardent reminder of his powers and capability in the recently concluded Tests against England. It was a series where he left little to the imagination and tore apart both spin and pace without much ado, looking comfortable and unfazed against both. You consider it a successful series where you pile up north of 400 runs. You dub it a stellar success when you go past the 500 run tally. This then was Jaiswal at his gritty best against an attack that had Wood, Anderson and Hartley; the troika he thudded for no fewer than 700 odd runs.
The Hammerer of England
He was quite the prancing horse akin to a bloodshot red Ferrari the others on the racing grid fear.
With scores of 80, 209, 214, 73 and 57- Yashasvi Jaiswal earned the rare distinction of being lauded by his colleagues and admired by his worthy opponents.
These, lest it is forgotten, were a collection of redoubtable talents led by an all rounder par excellence in Ben Stokes.
But while England had Stokes who misfired, India took pride in their Jaiswal who stoked the team’s confidence with relentless commitment.
In some ways, the whopping sum of 712 runs from merely 9 outings with the bat was a perfect correction served to those naysayers who may have dubbed his success in the Caribbean, a little over a quarter of a year ago, as a flash-in-the-pan occurrence.
The intent merchant
There’s no harm in reminding the fervent fan that in just his first ever tour to the West Indies, the blazing left hander amassed 266 runs from just 2 Tests, scoring in the process a gorgeous 171 at Windsor Park.
But just where most of us tout the fairly balanced strokeplay on either side of the wicket as being Jaiswal’s biggest reason for success, perhaps there’s sense in contending that there’s something more. Jaiswal isn’t a product of big hitting alone; he is an intent merchant.
Intent
Maybe it’s a byproduct of his age; at 22, you feel the world is your oyster and there’s no limit to what you can achieve. Or perhaps Yashasvi Jaiswal is the perfect case of a gifted batsman whose bat swing carries something else that charisma alone: temperament. The will. The ability to go after bowlers instead of the other way around. Somewhere, at least, to the naked eye of the spectator it appears that the batsman is utterly unafraid of taking on bowlers with triple the size of his own existing cricket credentials
Battling naysayers, not just bowlers
And while in this age of incessant opinion making where we think less and opine more, most of us perhaps remotely aware about the perils of verbal diarrhoea, there’ll be those who’ll remark that Jaiswal will be found out on away tours where there’s more swing and bounce than subcontinental flat-tracks.
An answer to the big “next”
But what he’ll still have will be bucket loads of confidence. It’s perhaps the trait that several like Jaiswal back in their heydays contended with. Think Clive Lloyd. Forget not Stephan Fleming.
And yet, it just makes perfect sense that the big what if concerning who’ll be the next names in the post-Rohit and Virat era- has been answered. At least, to an extent! Their names are bright as their talent. Shubman Gill. The yet to return Rishabh Pant. And the man of the moment: Yashasvi Jaiswal.