"New King likes to be on the back foot unlike the reigning king" - Sanjay Manjrekar hails Jaiswal's 1st BGT 2024-25 Test heroics with Kohli comparison
Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar praised Yashasvi Jaiswal for his backfoot play during his masterful century in the ongoing first Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test in Perth. Following a duck in his first outing Down Under, Jaiswal unleashed his arsenal to score 161 off 297 deliveries in the second innings.
The knock included 15 boundaries and three maximums, many of which were off the backfoot on the off-side against the pacers.
Highlighting the backfoot aspect of Jaiswal's innings, Manjrekar opined that out-of-form batter Virat Kohli, who likes to camp on the front foot, could take cues from the youngster.
"The square cut- he plays it a little later, which may not be ideal, but the back foot punch is something to love now in both those shots that you see there guys well, the new King (Jaiswal) likes to be on the back foot, unlike the reigning king (Kohli) who wants to be on the front foot, and as a result of that, he got 64% of the runs behind square. And that's something I think Virat Kohli might just want to have a look at because that's an area where he doesn't look to score off at all," Manjrekar said on Star Sports.
Despite the predominant front-foot batting style, Kohli has tasted enormous success on the fast and bouncy Australian pitches throughout his career.
Coming into the ongoing series, the champion batter averaged over 54 in Tests Down Under with six centuries.
"They have that extra second to think about" - Sanjay Manjrekar on playing on the backfoot
Sanjay Manjrekar further brokedown Jaiswal's backfoot play and highlighted how playing on the backfoot provides more time to a batter and allows him to play the ball late.
Jaiswal's magnificent knock helped India dominate the second innings of the series opener against Australia with an overall lead of 405 at Tea on Day 3 (Sunday, November 24). The southpaw added 201 for the opening wicket with KL Rahul — the highest by an opening pair in Tests for India Down Under.
"It's also an indication of two things. One that he obviously has. Some white ball instincts, the T20 instincts, plus the fact the guys who played that shot are in position very early. They have that extra second to think about. You know what? I might just tap this ball on the way plays the cut, which is a little later than most batters do. What a fantastic innings from Yashasvi," Manjrekar said in the same discussion.
Meanwhile, Virat Kohli has also got his eye in with 40* off 74 deliveries as India are currently dominating at 359/5, with another seven sessions to go in the first Test.