Ex-Indian Captain Sunil Gavaskar Recalls 'Mildly Reprimanding' Yashasvi Jaiswal
Former captain of Indian cricket team Sunil Gavaskar has revealed that he "mildly reprimanded" young batter Yashasvi Jaiswal during the Test tour of South Africa in December 2023. Recalling his chat with Jaiswal, Gavaskar said that he schooled Jaiswal for throwing away his wicket in the second Test against the West Indies in Trinidad. After scoring a century on his debut, Jaiswal was destined to reach triple figures in the second game. However, he chased a wide delivery and nicked it to a second slip for 57.
Gavaskar said it was nice to see Jaiswal scoring big runs against England, suggesting that the youngster take his advice to heart.
Gavaskar said in an interview, “It felt very nice to see Yashasvi getting all those runs and the manner in which he dominated the attack. I had mildly reprimanded him in the hotel elevator on Day 1 of the first Test in South Africa for throwing away his wicket in Trinidad (the previous Test) after a good 50+ score and told him never to do the bowlers any favor. Thankfully, he listened to me and got two big doubles in this series. He got three other half-centuries and forgot what I had told him there. But hey, who listens to anyone when one is in his 20s? I didn’t either. Hopefully, he will go on to bigger things and never forget that he is what he is because of Indian cricket.”
He further added, “When a player gets runs in a series, then he is very good or very lucky. In my case, it was the latter, as no less a cricketer than Garry Sobers gave me lives in my first half-century and then my first Test century.”