Even as the Himachal Pradesh players went through their routine morning drills ahead of the start of play on Day 2 of their Ranji Trophy match against Mumbai at the Sharad Pawar Bandra-Kurla Complex ground, the attention quickly shifted to the net put up near them, where a lean southpaw was perhaps going through his final preparation ahead of a tough assignment.
Indian opening batter Yashasvi Jaiswal turned up for a net session on Sunday morning, five days before the start of the first Test match against South Africa at Kolkata. The 23-year-old was seen taking throwdowns and was focusing on leaving the ball outside off stump and playing with a straight bat.
According to observers, Jaiswal arrived at the ground at around 8 a.m. before proceeding to have a batting stint. After his stint, he returned to the nets on the other side of the ground, where he took a break from practice.
Jaiswal played in Mumbai’s previous Ranji Trophy fixture against Rajasthan at Jaipur, where he made 156 in the second innings to help his side draw the game. He will enter the South Africa Tests in good form, having made 175 against the West Indies at New Delhi last month.
The left-hander has formed a fruitful opening partnership with KL Rahul at the top of the order, ever since Rohit Sharma announced his Test retirement in May. The pair have consistently given India good starts by taking the shine off the new ball, giving the rest of the batters a solid foundation to build on when they come out to bat.
The southpaw has experience playing against some of the bowlers in the current South African attack, having toured the country with the national side for the 2023-24 tour where India drew the two Test series 1-1.
Jaiswal debuted in Tests for India against the West Indies in July 2023.
