IND vs AUS, 2nd T20I: Yashasvi Jaiswal’s aggressive approach as an opener is his strength, says Abhishek Nayar

KKR assistant coach Abhishek Nayar has backed Yashasvi Jaiswal to continue playing instinctively aggressive cricket as an opener, saying that was the young batter’s strength. Jaiswal hammered two sixes and two fours in his entertaining knock while batting with a strike rate of over 262 in the opening T20I. Jaiswal failed to extend his stay at the crease after dismissing Gaikwad for a diamond duck, as the Indian southpaw was removed for 21 off 8 balls by Matthew Short in the second over.

“See, this is his strength. He’s not a player who takes too much time to settle in. I think he’s been given the role to play with freedom. He plays in the same way for Mumbai in domestic cricket and Rajasthan Royals in the IPL. If you are a player who is instinctively aggressive, then you should remain that way,” Abhishek Nayar said on JioCinema.

Yashasvi Jaiswal scored 625 runs in 14 matches in the IPL 2023 despite scoring a duck. However, it is not only the number of runs scored by Jaiswal that has stunned everyone, but also the speed with which he has done so. Jaiswal’s strike rate in 2023 was 163.61, while his strike rates in the previous two seasons were 132.99 and 148.21 in 2022 and 2021, respectively.

India had won the opening T20I by two wickets in Visakhapatnam to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series, but their bowlers, with the exception of pacer Mukesh Kumar, appeared incapable of stemming the run-flow. The surface and circumstances at Greenfield International Stadium will not be drastically different, making it critical for the Indian bowlers to fire as a unit. Batting-wise, skipper Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan are in good form, as the duo hit match-winning runs.

In the first game, India’s top order, which included Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Rinku Singh, and Yashasvi Jaiswal, batted admirably against the Australian spinners. The squad will want to keep the momentum going, with Kishan attempting to minimize the number of dot balls he hits during his innings.

“In the 1st T20I, all the players were playing after a long time, so I think they should be given one more match before the management thinks about making any change in the XI. Also, there was nothing for the spinners in the pitch in Visakhapatnam. They should continue playing the winning XI,” Mishra also said on JioCinema.