"Jaiswal & Gill shouldn't be thinking that even Kohli got out" - Basit Ali's advice to Indian youngsters over early dismissals in 3rd BGT 2024-25 Test
Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali was disappointed by the early dismissals of India's top-order batters Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill on Day 3 of the side's Brisbane Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. He opined that the two youngsters threw their wickets away by playing rash shots.
Jaiswal perished on the second ball of the innings, getting caught at midwicket off Mitchell Starc's bowling. While the southpaw scored just four runs, Gill managed just one run before edging one to gully against Starc.
Basit reckoned that Jaiswal and Gill should not feel that even ace batter Virat Kohli (3 off 16) bagged a failure in the innings. Emphasizing that the two players should be hungry to score big runs at this stage of their careers, here's what the cricketer-turned-expert said in a video shared on his YouTube channel (from 3:39):
"Jaiswal and Gill shouldn't be thinking that even Kohli got out. They should see that he has already performed a lot. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have performed in the past. Jaiswal and Gill should be hungry for runs, which is missing."
Basit seemed unimpressed by Gill's approach as he remarked that the right-handed batter didn't seem to have any hunger to perform at the Test level. He added (from 3:58):
"Unfortunately, Gill has no hunger at all. He just loves to play shots. Everything is tested in Test cricket.
"After scoring four runs off two balls, Yashasvi Jaiswal was caught out. In Test cricket, where time has to be spent and you need to reduce the hardness and shine of the ball, Shubman Gill was trying to chop the ball."
India suffered yet another top-order collapse, losing four early wickets on Day 3 of the Brisbane Day. The visitors finished 51/4 at stumps, still trailing Australia by 394 runs.
"Only rain will be able to save India in this Test" - Basit Ali on 3rd BGT 2024-25 Test
Basit Ali predicted that India didn't stand a chance to win the Brisbane Test. He, however, suggested that a defeat or a draw here would help the Rohit Sharma-led side regroup ahead of the remaining two fixtures.
Stating that head coach Gautam Gambhir has to play a big role in motivating the Indian players, Basit said in the aforementioned video (from 7:15):
"Only rain will be able to save India in this Test. Even if India lost this Test, it will help them regroup, and if it's a draw, it will also be beneficial. But Gautam Gambhir needs to make them sit together and get the tuning right."
The 54-year-old added that the Indian side's complete focus should be on BGT 2024-25 instead of worrying about securing a spot in the World Test Championship (WTC 2023-25) final. Basit elaborated (from 7:44):
"Forget what happened in Perth, focus on what's happening now. If the Indian batters and bowlers are thinking about the WTC final then they're being foolish. Take one match at a time of this series."
The BGT 2024-25 five-match series is currently leveled at 1-1. India kicked off their campaign with a comprehensive 295-run victory at Perth. Australia bounced back by clinching a dominating 10-wicket win in the subsequent pink ball Test at Adelaide.