‘Jaiswal and Rahul helped settle dressing-room nerves’: Gavaskar after India’s strong start against Afghanistan

New Delhi: Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar praised Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul for laying a strong foundation in the opening session of the one-off Test against Afghanistan, saying the pair helped calm nerves in the dressing room on a surface whose behaviour was still uncertain on the first morning.

India reached 96/1 at lunch on Day 1 after electing to bat, with Jaiswal scoring a brisk 24 before being dismissed. Rahul, who was unbeaten on 37 at the break, went on to convert his start into a century, while Sai Sudharsan added a valuable 81 before falling later in the innings.

Gavaskar feels that India would be pleased with the way their openers handled the challenging early conditions. “On day one, when you get off to a start of almost a hundred and have lost just one wicket, you’ve done really well. They managed to negate whatever early assistance the seam bowlers received,” Gavaskar told Jio Hotstar.

The batting great felt Jaiswal was unfortunate to lose his wicket after looking fluent during his brief stay at the crease. “Yashasvi was unlucky to get out, strangled down the leg side. On the first day, there are always nerves in the dressing room about what the pitch is going to do because nobody really knows, so he and Rahul helped settle those nerves,” he added.

Gavaskar was particularly impressed with the approach shown by both batters, despite Rahul surviving a couple of early scares. “The way they batted was impressive, and some of the shots Jaiswal played were particularly pleasing. He didn’t score too many runs, and Rahul had a couple of close shaves early on, but overall, I thought both of them batted really well,” he said.

Former England spinner Graeme Swann also backed Rahul to make his start count after surviving the difficult opening phase against Afghanistan’s seam attack.

“First and foremost, you’ll probably be thinking, ‘Right, I’ve done the hard bit by getting through the crucial first two hours. Now is the time to be patient.’ They are relatively inexperienced spinners in the grand scheme of things, so they are bound to bowl the occasional loose delivery,” Swann said.

Swann highlighted Rahul’s proactive approach against spin, saying it put pressure back on Afghanistan’s inexperienced slow bowlers. “As soon as the spinners overpitched, Rahul was happy to hit over the top, which is a nightmare for any spin bowler. Rahul is not the ideal batter to bowl to in your first Test match; he will take you on if you err in your line or length,” he added.

Rahul’s eventual century and Sudharsan’s composed 81 ensured India capitalised on the solid platform established during the opening session.
IANS