Ex-India captain Gautam Gambhir warned against excessively glorifying Yashasvi Jaiswal's double century in the second Test against England, suggesting such hype can negatively impact the natural play of young talents by adding undue pressure and expectations. In the ongoing second Test between India and England at Visakhapatnam, Jaiswal hit his first Test double century on February 3, placing him as the third youngest Indian to reach this milestone.
In what was only his sixth Test appearance, the 22-year-old Jaiswal's remarkable innings of 209 runs from 290 deliveries was instrumental in India's first innings total of 396 in 112 overs on Day two. With this Jaiswal became first Indian left-handed batter to score a double ton in Tests since Gambhir, who last did so in 2008 against Australia.
Gautam Gambhir reacts to Yashasvi Jaiswal's double ton
“I want to congratulate the youngster for his achievement, but, more importantly, I want to tell everyone that let the young man play. We have seen in the past that in India we have a habit, especially the media, to over-hype their achievements, and give them tags and make them look like heroes,” Gambhir told PTI during an interaction.
“The pressure of expectation gets the better of them, and the players are not able to play their natural game. Let him grow, and, enjoy his cricket,” Gambhir added.
Jaiswal has shone with the bat in the current Test series, whereas Shubman Gill and middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer have found it challenging to score. The 42-year-old former cricketer, now a politician, has voiced support for the players who haven't performed well, advocating for them to be afforded more time. In the second Test, both Gill and Iyer got off to promising starts but were unable to turn those beginnings into significant scores. Gill managed to score 34 runs in the first innings at Visakhapatnam but hasn't reached a half-century in his last nine Test innings. Similarly, Iyer has also been experiencing a lean phase.
“We should give them time as they are quality players, and they have shown it in the past with their performance. That is why they are playing for India,” Gambhir concluded.
Jaiswal's double ton and Jasprit Bumrah's brilliant six-fer diffused England's Bazball and restricted them to 253. At the close of Day 2's play India found themselves 171 runs ahead of England.
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