"I had a slight doubt in my mind whether he would be able to score runs" - Sunil Gavaskar lauds Yashasvi Jaiswal's performances in BGT 2024-25

Former India player Sunil Gavaskar has lauded Yashasvi Jaiswal for performing consistently in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 Test series. The legendary India opener acknowledged that he was skeptical about the youngster being among the runs in Australia after a few indifferent performances in similar conditions in South Africa.

India suffered a 1-3 defeat in the recently concluded five-match series against Australia. However, Jaiswal starred for the visitors with the bat, aggregating 391 runs at a decent average of 43.44 in 10 innings on seam-friendly surfaces.

During a discussion on Star Sports, Gavaskar was asked about his thoughts on Jaiswal's performances in the series.

"This player's biggest virtue is that he learns a lot from his first mistake. The way he got out last year in both Test matches in South Africa, I had a slight doubt in my mind whether he would be able to score runs on similar pitches in Australia," he responded.

The former India captain praised the left-handed opener for learning from his mistakes.

"In the first innings in Perth, he opened the face of his bat slightly and got caught at gully. In the second innings, he played with an absolutely straight bat to mid-off and mid-on, and when he was flicking, he was playing wide of mid-on and not towards square leg. He batted solidly," Gavaskar observed.

Yashasvi Jaiswal was dismissed for a duck in India's first innings of the first Test in Perth. However, he bounced back to play a 161-run knock in the second innings, with his 201-run opening-wicket partnership with KL Rahul (77) helping the visitors register a 295-run win.

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"It's praiseworthy how he kept improving in every match" - Sunil Gavaskar on Yashasvi Jaiswal

Yashasvi Jaiswal played the most balls (732) across both teams in BGT 2024-25. [P/C: Getty]

In the same discussion, Sunil Gavaskar noted that Yashasvi Jaiswal formulated separate plans for different types of bowlers.

"He was standing outside the crease when it was swinging, especially when (Scott) Boland was bowling as his length is quite predictable. The other bowlers, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins, bowl different lengths, some balls are short, but Boland bowls very few bouncers. So it's praiseworthy how he kept improving in every match," he explained.

However, the cricketer-turned-commentator urged the youngster to give himself a little time at the start of his innings.

"I just felt that he was getting overaggressive at times at the start. These are Test matches, so you have a lot of time, it is played over five days. No matter how the pitch might be, give yourself a little time at the start and the bowling becomes easy to face," Gavaskar elaborated.

Yashasvi Jaiswal struck two half-centuries, scoring eighties in both innings of the Boxing Day Test, apart from the hundred in Perth. However, he had 24 as his top score in his other seven innings, including being dismissed for a duck twice.