South Africa's players celebrate the dismissal of India's Yashasvi Jaiswal, centre, on the fourth day of the second cricket test match between India and South Africa in Guwahati, India, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
South Africa pace great Dale Steyn said that Yashasvi Jaiswal should temporarily stop using his patented cut shot just like Sachin Tendulkar had shelved his drive in Australia. The left hander fell on Tuesday once again against South Africa trying to put away Marco Jansen with the shot.
“It’s his go-to shot, and breaking that instinct is tough. When you see the ball in your zone, you go for it. But maybe it’s something he needs to consciously cut down on. I remember Sachin once removed the drive from his game in Australia. Jaiswal may also need to say, ‘Unless it’s in a specific area, I won’t play it. In this area, I’ll trust my defence’,” Steyn said on JioHotstar after the day’s play.
“It was a bit of a false shot by Jaiswal. It’s his default option — he likes playing that shot. He is probably so used to right-arm bowlers angling the ball across him that playing that shot feels natural. But with Marco Jansen being a left-armer, it looks like the ball will angle away and give him room, but very often it’s tighter than he expects. That’s why he sometimes drags the ball back onto his stumps or edges it. As it pitches, it often straightens instead of going across, and that’s how it finds the edge — either side of the bat — leading to bowled, caught in slips, or caught behind,” he added.
With India needing 549 runs in the 4th innings, Jaiswal tried to cut Jansen and edged behind to Kyle Verreynne. KL Rahul would soon follow his compatriot with India going into stumps on Day 4 at 27/2.
“It was a poor shot from Yashasvi Jaiswal. They certainly tested both the openers, and Jaiswal in particular got a lot of short-pitched deliveries from Marco Jansen. Eventually, he fell playing his favourite cut shot — a shot he has scored many runs from, but also gets out to. He was trying to force the pace and ended up getting out to Jansen,” Anil Kumble said.
“When you’re looking to score runs and when short deliveries keep coming, you feel that’s the only scoring option. Even the first ball Jaiswal faced in this innings was a short one that hit his glove,” he added.
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