Has Jayant Yadav done enough to cement a place in the squad?

Jayant Yadav made his Test debut against England at Vizag, becoming the 286^th Test player for India after replacing Amit Mishra in the team, who looked a tad out of touch in the first Test at Indore. Yadav’s ability to turn the ball on uncooperative wickets and his grit as a batsman paved the way for a Test call.

Scores of 35, 27* and 55, compiling to an average of 58.50 is no bleak start by any stretch of the imagination. With the ball, he has been frugal with an economy of 2.73 in a T20 hyped era. He also has picked up wickets, not returning wicket-less in any of the four innings he has bowled.

‘Morning shows the day’- a phrase which may be associated with Jayant Yadav’s exposure to the sunlight of international cricket. Undoubtedly, the man from Delhi has soaked in all the initial heat. After Vizag, Yadav performed impressively in the second Test versus England.

It may be too early to gauge Yadav’s repertoire with the red cherry, a hint of his cricketing brain was on display when Yadav went upstairs to review Moeen Ali’s LBW decision. It turned out to be a masterstroke and Jayant Yadav collected his first scalp in Test cricket in the process.

The Haryana bowler’s nagging line and length has paid dividends and he has been a perfect foil for Ashwin and Jadeja in the couple of Test matches that he has represented India. He tweaked the ball enough to disturb the English batsmen and also notched up his maiden half-century in the third Test at Mohali.

India has lacked strength from their lower-order in the past, but Yadav’s performance as an off-spinner along with a solid technique with the willow fits in well for India’s scheme of things in the future. On Indian and other sub-continent pitches, he is a handful and for the time-being can play support to the established spinners.

Away from the familiar territories

Jayant Yadav has lived up to the expectation of his skipper in the first two Tests

The challenge lies on showcasing the skills on tracks unsuitable for spin bowling. Decks in South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and England provide negligible assistance to the spinners and therefore thriving on such wickets demands persistence and mental toughness.

Spinners peg away at the batsman for a chunk of the overs in sub-continent conditions and trick the batsman into a trap. In other decks, bowling spin is about keeping a check on the runs. The number of overs a spinner bowls in placid batting wickets is restricted to a few.

Jayant Yadav is yet to give an account of himself on unresponsive wickets and it will be a little too early to assume Yadav’s inclusion in the squad.

It’s a rare sight of teams travelling with three mainline spinners, especially where pitches are more known for generating movement from the grass rather than chucking up a puff of dust. Jayant Yadav is still low on experience and may not be selected in the Indian XI when the team travels abroad, provided others don’t suffer injuries.

Need of the hour for Jayant

Just two Tests old, Jayant Yadav has a long road to look forward

Staying in the fifteen will be his initial goal, but the spinner cannot put in performances when warming the benches. Let’s have a look at the combined statistics of both Ashwin and Jadeja in home and overseas territories - an estimated benchmark for Yadav to make a case for himself in every playing eleven.

Ravichandran Ashwin bowling in Australia, England, South Africa and West Indies

Matches	Wickets	Bowling Average	Best Bowling	Wickets/Match
13	41	42.73	7/83	3.15

Ravichandran Ashwin bowling in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh

Matches	Wickets	Bowling Average	Best Bowling	Wickets/Match
29	194	20.95	7/59	6.69

Ravindra Jadeja bowling in New Zealand, West Indies and South Africa

Matches	Wickets	Bowling Average	Best Bowling	Wickets/Match
8	21	41.80	6/138	2.62

Ravindra Jadeja bowling in India

Matches	Wickets	Bowling Average	Best Bowling	Wickets/Match
15	74	19.83	5/21	4.73

The above data clearly shows that bowling in tracks that’s not conducive to spin bowling is a tumultuous task. Yadav has started off well, but among budding spinners in India, it’s easy to fade away into oblivion.

The role away from bowling

Jayant Yadav (right) is more than capable with the bat

Batting depth is an important factor in modern cricket teams, and Yadav hasn’t disappointed in that facet. The Indian tail has wagged courtesy some tremendous rearguard action by India’s lower order batsmen that included some glorious batsmanship by Yadav.

He has got a decent first class average of 29.21, but they have all been scored in India. If Yadav gets an opportunity to represent India abroad, it will be interesting to see how he streamlines his game accordingly.

It will be difficult to say whether he has convinced the selectors enough or not, he surely hasn’t shut the door for himself after his initial couple of matches. With more steady performances, the spinner will be on the mental radar of the selectors.

Nevertheless, India has got another quality prospect for a world-class all-round cricketer.