Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal got his much-awaited chance in ODIs in the absence of an injured Shubman Gill. Jaiswal who was playing his first ODI after making his ODI debut against England earlier this year, made a mess of the opportunity. After finding the boundary a few times, he edged one to the wicketkeeper off left-arm pacer Nandre Burger’s bowling. Legendary India batter Sunil Gavaskar was not pleased with the southpaw’s footwork as he was dismissed cheaply in the fourth over.
“One thing I think Jaiswal will have to work on is footwork,” Gavaskar said while commentating. “His front foot has gone nowhere. When the front foot gets nowhere you are going to have to search for the ball.”
Gavaskar has been troubled by extra bounce of late. In the two-Test series, he was dismissed thrice by Marco Jansen. The former opener had a piece of advice for the southpaw.
“If the foot had gone a little further he would have been able to cover for that little bit of late movement,” he said.
He also offered an alternate advice to the youngster.
“Maybe stay inside the crease because of the extra bounce,” the 76-year-old said.
Before departing Jaiswal scored 18 runs from 16 balls. He hit two fours and a six.
Jaiswal’s ODI debut
Jaiswal made his ODI debut against England on February 6 in Nagpur. He scored 15 runs from 22 balls. He was dismissed by Jofra Archer.
He was picked in initial squad for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. Later, he was kept in reserves as an extra spinner – Varun Chakravarthy – was added to the squad.
More chances for Jaiswal
Jaiswal's next chance will be on December 3 at Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium, Raipur.
If he does not fare well, the team management can try Ruturaj Gaikwad as opener. Gaikwad made his ODI return after two years and was dismissed for a single-digit score. He departed for eight runs from 14 balls as Dewald Brevis took a stunning catch off Ottneil Baartman’s bowling.