Jayant Yadav Sees Virat Kohli As A Dominant Personality On And Off The Field

While allrounder Jayant Yadav hasn’t touched the highest echelons yet, his knock of 104 against England in the Mumbai Test would always remain as a memorable one. During the course of it, Yadav shared a monumental 241-run stand with captain Virat Kohli that lead India to an emphatic victory. In a chat with ESPN Cricinfo, Jayant Yadav talked in detail about that particular innings.

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Jayant Yadav hasn’t featured for India since the 2017 Test against Australia in Pune, which was the last of his four Tests. He sustained a stress fracture of the finger that forced him out of the 2017-18 edition of Ranji Trophy. And since then, the off-spinner hasn’t found himself close to selection nearly solidifying his spot alongside Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja as one of the first-choice bowlers.

Coming to the imperious innings of 104, the Delhi-born cricketer played without pressure as Virat Kohli let him play his own game and merely advised him to keep building and building, taking one step at a time. He further said that batting with him was fun as Alastair Cook had pushed the fielders for Kohli to protect boundaries that also worked in his favour.

“Virat never let the pressure get to me,” he said. “He was telling me, ‘Play however you are doing. Don’t think too much about getting runs, or what will this bowler bowl in his next spell. Just play every ball. Build it, build it.’ It was like things just fell into place. Actually I was out, I don’t know at what score but I nicked the ball off Moeen Ali. But they didn’t have a review remaining.

“Batting with Virat was fun. They kept putting fielders back because Virat was hitting boundaries at will. That helped me as well. He is such a dominant personality on the field and off it, it makes life much easier for his batting partner,” Jayant Yadav added.

“I think one good Ranji season will get me back in the reckoning”: Jayant Yadav

Despite his intermittent appearances, the 30-year old hasn’t given up hopes of making it back to the national side. He understands that one needs to be on the top of their game at all times to get a ticket to the national team. At the same time, Jayant is confident that one season of good showing in the domestic circuit would get him back in the scheme of things.

“To make a comeback in the Indian Test team you have to be relentless and keep knocking on the door. I think one good Ranji season will get me back in the reckoning. Everybody has seen what I can do, the pros and cons. I’ve been there. It’s about having that good season, getting into the India A set-up again, starting from scratch. If you do well in Ranji Trophy and then do well in India A, then only you get into the Test team. It’s a very good filter,” he said.

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