Young aggressive opener Yashasvi Jaiswal has become a pivotal part of the Indian team. However, a crucial moment in his career during an important match where Ajinkya Rahane was the skipper, played a defining role in shaping Jaiswal’s career.
The incident had happened during the Duleep Trophy final between the West Zone and South Zone held in Coimbatore in 2022.
On the final day of the match, Rahane took a stern stand and decided to bench Jaiswal due to his undisciplined behaviour on the field.
Jaiswal had been repeatedly sledging South Zone batsman Ravi Teja leading to warnings from the umpires. As the match progressed, Jaiswal’s behaviour continued to escalate. In the 57th over of the innings, Jaiswal repeated the same kind of behaviour. This time around there was a lengthy discussion between captain Rahane and the umpires.
Eventually, Jaiswal was asked by Rahane to leave the field. Notably, the umpires did not allow West Zone to substitute a fielder, forcing them to play with only 10 players for few overs.
Rahane’s decisive action had a profound impact on Jaiswal’s fledgling career. The incident marked a turning point, prompting Jaiswal to reflect on his behaviour seriously. The southpaw has been excelling on the cricket field since then.
However, in that match Jaiswal’s performance was stunning. After getting with just one run in the first inning, Jaiswal stunned all and sundry by scoring a brilliant 265 runs in the second innings. He also earned the ‘Player of the Match’ award in that game.
Eventually, under Rahane’s captaincy, West Zone emerged victorious by a huge margin of 294 runs.