Jayant Yadav: A possible solution to India's long-tail woes

Jayant Yadav last played a Test match for India in February 2017, with an exile of almost 2 years from international cricket now. Yadav impressed one and all with his all-round abilities, proving an asset with the bat lower down the order whilst possessing decent off-spin ability in his armoury.

The Delhi born cricketer has represented Haryana in the domestic circuit since 2011 and has been impressive with both bat and ball. In 55 first-class matches, he has picked up 143 wickets with a best of 7/64, averaging under 34.

With the bat, he has scored 1982 runs, averaging a solid 27 for a number 9 batsman.

Strong start to international career

Yadav made his Test debut for India in November 2016 against England, when he was picked in the playing eleven in Vizag. In 4 Test matches, he has picked 11 wickets with an average close to 34.

Having been drafted into the side primarily as a bowler, Yadav's performances with the bat can be a bonus to any side. He has 228 runs in 4 Tests for the country averaging 45.60, even scoring a century batting at number 9, a first in Indian cricket.

During the course of his century, Yadav, along with Virat Kohli managed to stitch a record partnership of 241 runs for the 8th wicket.

The Haryana bowler has shown a solid technique with the bat, and a terrific ability to rotate the strike while batting alongside the tail - an art India has terribly lacked in recent times.

Batting exploits no fluke

Jayant Yadav has scored a century and a half-century in 6 innings so far for India, but detractors can always argue that it could possibly be a one-off thing. In first-class cricket, he has a batting average of 27, a decent return for a number 9 batter. In 2012, he scored his maiden first-class century, eventually culminating in an elusive double hundred for the off-spinner.

He even went on to register a record 392-run 8th wicket stand with leggie Amit Mishra.

Yadav has been promising with the bat, showing faith in his defensive ability more often than not.

India's answers to a deep tail

The current Indian setup looks quite compact with pacers Bumrah, Ishant and Shami a certain inclusion. We have seen in the past, the Indian tail has the potential to hang around, provided they have an able batting partner at the other end.

However, their batting woes have landed India in trouble when left on their own, a weakness well exposed by Australian quicks in Perth, where the tail collapsed once the recognized batsmen departed.

Role of the leadership

This is where the role of the Indian management comes in. The team leadership has been pretty vocal in their desire to get a perfect all-rounder, thereby investing quite a lot in the likes of Pandya and Vihari (of late). The addition of Jayant Yadav can be handy, since he has been a quality off-spinner for his side, impressing in the domestic as well as international circuit in the limited opportunities he has received.

With strong performance with the willow, Yadav, who seems to have been forgotten by the selectors, can be an asset to the side.