The dejected trudge back to the pavilion late on Friday just reflected how heartbroken Yashasvi Jaiswal felt. Having done all the hard work, making the technical adjustments required and not wasting the scoring opportunities, Jaiswal had done exceedingly well to overcome his struggles in Adelaide and Brisbane following the 161 in Perth.

Looking solid and steady and batting with fluency, a run-out dismissal was something the young left-handed opener and the rest of Team India had least expected. But with his senior partner Virat Kohli, at the non-striker’s end then, seemingly more intent on tracking the ball instead of responding to the striker’s call, Jaiswal was stranded at the other end and run out.

The complexion of the game changed drastically thereafter. Kohli was soon back to his habit of fishing outside the off stump to perish off Scott Boland, who also picked up nightwatchman Akash Deep towards the close of play as India slipped to 164/5 at stumps on Day II from 153/2 following Jaiswal’s against-the-run-of-play departure.

The way Jaiswal batted, a second century on his maiden tour Down Under was pretty much on the cards. Even after his century in Perth, Jaiswal had problems against Mitchell Starc. So, to counter the left-arm quick and the movement he extracts, Jaiswal took his stance outside the crease.

In good batting conditions on Day II, that ploy helped Jaiswal complement his hand-eye coordination. He began unleashing his strokes and once he does that, it is difficult to get him out. His conversion rate suggests so.

He lost his senior partner and captain Rohit Sharma, who continued to fluff despite going back to opening, early. Jaiswal’s former opening partner KL Rahul, batting at No.3 in this fourth Test, again looked assured till a peach of a ball from Australia skipper Pat Cummins sent him back.

At 51/2, India looked wobbly again. Jaiswal was then joined by Kohli, who has had a hard time in his last three innings. The pressure was much more on Jaiswal to bail India out.

However, the youngster, turning 23 on Saturday, did not go into a shell. He did play the upper cut on a couple of occasions and smashed an away-going delivery from Mitch Marsh for a six. But barring those instances, there wasn’t any extravagance on show from Jaiswal.

A conversation with former national selector Salil Ankola a day before the fourth Test began also turned to be helpful for Jaiswal. “I had spoken to Yashasvi a day before this Test began.

“I told him, ‘This is not the Ranji Trophy or domestic cricket that you will play shots to get off the hook. This is Test cricket. So, in those Australian conditions, just look to grind and graft. That’s exactly what he did today (Friday),” Ankola, who had also
picked Jaiswal for the Mumbai team, said. “Yashasvi is a special talent. So, adjusting his game shouldn’t be a problem for him and he has done so in the past too.”

“The starting point is somewhat similar on most pitches where there’s good bounce and carry, especially in Australia. And maintaining the discipline... not to go for a pull shot or a booming cover-drive, leaving the ball on off stump and forcing them to bowl onto your pads and then pick them off to the leg side using the pace — all of which you have to keep doing to be successful on those surfaces,” Rajasthan Royals high-performance director Zubin Bharucha, who has also personally trained Jaiswal, told The Telegraph.

“Then it’s about constant adaptations even inside the innings which comes from quickly figuring out what shots can and can’t be played. If you’re able to marry both of these together, which he (Jaiswal) has done successfully, the score will then take care of itself,” he added.

Jaiswal did all he could to hold the innings together under pressure, till the miscommunication with Kohli cut short his stay.