‘Yashasvi Jaiswal will be key’ - Anil Kumble on India’s chase in fourth innings of Mumbai Test

New Zealand had a tough day on the field, but yet the Tom Latham-led side are currently leading by 143 runs after Day 2 in the final Test of the series. They finished the day with 171/9, but the spin maestros Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja wreaked havoc, picking up three and four wickets, respectively.

Meanwhile, despite the batting department flopping, the Kiwis will be optimistic of their chances as the Rohit Sharma-led side struggled heavily against spinners and New Zealand would be hoping to take advantage of that in the fourth innings. Chasing close to 150 runs or more won’t be an easy task for the Rohit Sharma-led side as the ball is spinning well. Indian batters need to be cautious as their performance in the series has been extremely ordinary.

In the same vein, former India captain Anil Kumble stated that opener Yashasvi Jaiswal will be vital in India’s chase. The leg-spinner explained that the southpaw can take on Ajaz Patel early on and put the pressure on New Zealand.

“Yashasvi Jaiswal is going to be key for India. As a left-hander, his main job will be to negate Ajaz Patel. He should not just get a start and throw it away like in the first innings. You want him to get going because it is not going to be easy once the ball gets older and things start happening on the surface. If Jaiswal gets a good start, things will be easier for India,” Kumble said on JioCinema.

Jaiswal fell to poor shot selection in first innings of Mumbai Test

Notably, Yashasvi Jaiswal departed after scoring 30 runs in the first innings. He looked in great touch but departed while playing a reverse sweep towards the fag end of Day 1.

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His dismissal led to two more wickets of Mohammed Siraj and Virat Kohli, which put India on the back foot. The hosts can’t afford similar mistakes and would be hoping to put up a good show with the bat in the final innings and register their first win of the series.