World Cup winner Gautam Gambhir has made an earnest request to the Indian cricket fans and media to not “overhype” Yashasvi Jaiswal’s double century and not give him any tags.
Following Jaiswal’s majestic knock against England in the second in Vizag – the 22-year-old became the third-youngest Indian to hit a men’s double Test hundred – fans called him the “real prince” and the “batter to watch in the next decade”.
While it’s understandable that the fans were praising Jaiswal in their own ways, Gautam Gambhir reckons such tags and hero-worship only add pressure to youngsters.
Speaking with PTI, Gautam Gambhir said, “I want to congratulate the youngster for his achievement but, more importantly, I want to tell everyone that let the young man play. We have seen in the past that in India we have a habit, especially the media, to overhype their achievements and give them tags and make them look like heroes.
“The pressure of expectation gets the better of them and the players are not able to play their natural game. Let him grow and enjoy his cricket.”
Jaiswal’s 209 helped India post 396. After this, Jasprit Bumrah’s six-wicket haul and Kuldeep Yadav’s three-wicket haul bundled England for 253, handing India a big lead of 143 runs.
We should give Gill and Iyer time as they are quality players: Gautam Gambhir
During India’s first innings, while Jaiswal stood his ground at his end, other batters got starts and failed to convert. The pressure now is on the places of Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer with Virat Kohli expected to return in the third Test and Sarfaraz Khan waiting in the wings.
Both of them have been among the underperforming Indian batters in the past year. Since the start of 2023, Gill is averaging only 25 and Iyer is averaging merely 15.
Gautam Gambhir, though, feels more time should be given to the duo as they are high-quality batters.
“We should give them time as they are quality players, and they have shown it in the past with their performance. That is why they are playing for India,” Gambhir added.
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