"We're talking about a really tough kid here" - Allan Border terms young Indian batter as an incredible talent
Former Australian captain Allan Border has hailed young Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal as an incredible talent. Praising him for making his way to the top by defying numerous challenges, the 69-year-old added that bowlers might need some time to work him out.
Jaiswal is among the many rags-to-riches stories in Indian cricket. Hailing from an extremely humble background, he overcame multiple obstacles and is now one of the brightest young talents in international cricket.
In an interview with The Times of India, Border shared his thoughts on Jaiswal and praised his talent as well as his resilience.
"I like the backstory. We're talking about a really tough kid here. For him, with his struggles, to get to the Test team of a country with 1.2 billion people, it's unbelievable. He's got incredible talent, obviously that's come through," the former Australian captain said.
"He'll have his moments because he's new. People haven't seen much of him. It'll take a while for bowlers to start working him out. He's going to be the sort of player who might go through a little (bad) patch, then work himself out and come back a better player. I think he's very good," Border went on to add.
Jaiswal has had a mixed Border-Gavaskar Trophy so far. He was dismissed for a duck in the first innings in Perth but followed it up with a brilliant 161 in the second essay as the visitors won the contest by 295 runs. In his last four visits to the crease, he has registered scores of 0, 24, 4 and 4*.
A glance at Yashasvi Jaiswal's record for Team India
Jaiswal (22) made his Test debut against the West Indies in Roseau in July 2023. It was a memorable debut for the left-handed batter as he was named Player of the Match for his 171. The Indian youngster has so far featured in 17 Test matches and has scored 1,600 runs at an average of 53.33, with the aid of four hundreds and eight half-centuries.
The UP-born cricketer has also featured in 23 T20Is in which he has scored 723 runs at an average of 36.15 and a strike rate of 164.31, with one hundred and five fifties. His best of 100 came off 49 balls against Nepal in Hangzhou in the first quarterfinal of the 2023 Asian Games.