Australia vs India Test cricket: Yashasvi Jaiswal weakness uncovered by CricViz stats

Yashasvi Jaiswal went viral when he told Mitchell Starc he was bowling ‘too slow’. That taunt might just have told Australia how to undermine the game’s newest sensation.

It was the taunt which shocked the cricket world but may yet provide Australia with clues to undermine the game’s new batting wonderboy.

“You’re coming too slow,” said Indian batting whizkid Yashasvi Jaiswal to Australian fast man Mitchell Starc, who smiled back at him during the first Test in Perth.

At the time it sounded like a bold sledge – the rookie in his first Test on Australian soil sending a message he won’t be intimidated by a decorated veteran.

The contrary argument, supported by leaked details of his preparation and a CricViz study of his dismissals in overseas Tests, indicats Jaiswal may simply have been saying what was on his mind.

Since the 22-year-old’s epic first Test 161, Jaiswal’s mentors have revealed in India that before leaving for Australia he faced 600 deliveries a day for two days designed to help him get used to the pace and bounce of Australian conditions.

The balls were delivered onto an angular cement ramp to enhance the bounce, paced at a rapid 145kph.

It helped Jaiswal adjust to the high bounce of Australian decks after three dusty turners against New Zealand.

By the time he got to Australia he was used to hot pace after force-feeding himself with thunderbolts for a couple of days.

And, significantly, a CricViz study of Jaiswal’s efforts in five overseas Tests shows that balls travelling at faster than 140kph, often a major worry for batsmen, are the ones he is least likely to get out on.

He’s averaging 65 in overseas Tests from balls delivered faster than 140kph for just once out, while averaging 28 for five times out between 130-140kph and 54 for twice out under 130kph.

Experienced cricket scribe Bharat Sundaresan did not believe Jaiswal’s words to Starc were delivered with caustic intent.

“You must remember when he was growing up he did not have a television so he didn’t have that experience of watching Australia on their shores and all those big battles that come with it,” Sundaresan said.

After 15 Tests, Jaiswal has a batting average of 58 at an excellent strike rate of 67, including four centuries.

Getting him early in the pink ball Test in Adelaide will be a key plank of Australia’s revival plan for the series.

While Jaiswal has also proved a T20 powerhouse and loves scoring quickly in all forms, he is also a batsman with multi-gears and can go into fighter mode when required.

Jaiswal’s journey, one of cricket’s most romantic success stories, includes him moving from Uttar Pradesh to live in tents in Mumbai for three years to chase his cricket dream. It has charmed the cricket world.

“He is a kid from the wrong side of the tracks and I cannot imagine how he has got to where he has got to,’’ Australian Test great Ian Healy said.

“It’s not just his batting but he in everything. When Steve Smith got hit he was the first player to come in and say ‘are you OK?’ He is such a refreshing force for India.’’