"It's really tragic..." - Sanjay Manjrekar on Yashasvi Jaiswal not winning POTM despite hitting double centuries

Yashasvi Jaiswal smashed a double century in consecutive Test matches but still was not able to get a Player of the Match award in both Tests because of substantial contributions from another player. He smashed 214 off 236 deliveries in the second innings of the third Test which was played at the Niranjan Shah Cricket Stadium in Rajkot and in his innings he smashed 14 fours and 12 sixes. India won the match by a record margin of 434 runs.

Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar feels for Yashasvi Jaiswal for not being able to get the Player of the Match even after scoring double-centuries in both the second and the third Test. He smashed 209 runs in the first innings at Vizag and then he wreaked havoc in Rajkot after a terrific double-century in the second innings. He was pipped for the Player of The Match by Jasprit Bumrah in the second Test who took nine wickets in the match and Ravindra Jadeja in the third Test who scored a century in the first innings and took a fifer in the second innings.

Sanjay Manjrekar, while speaking on ESPNcricinfo talked about Yashasvi Jaiswal’s special talent and good technique against the new ball and his transition to a T20 batter immediately after being set. He said that it was really tragic that he could not get a Player of the Match award because someone else had a much bigger impact than him on the match results.

“Yashasvi Jaiswal is a special talent that he can play defensively for 50 balls with good technique against the new ball and then unleashes and gets into T20 immediately. And the 12 sixes were very modern in that they were going into the stands. And it’s not only one range, he hit some mind-boggling shots. It’s really tragic that despite getting two double centuries, he doesn’t end up Player of the Match. Because Somebody else has more match-winning contributions,” said Manjrekar.

Yashasvi Jaiswal has scored three centuries in his Test career with all of them being above 150

Yashasvi Jaiswal made his debut in July 2023 against West Indies at Dominica and scored a century on his debut. He then had a terrible outing against South Africa where he failed in the two-match Test series but in the ongoing five-match Test series, he has had an impact in every match. In the first Test, he scored 80 in the first innings and then in the second, he scored 209 in Vizag. The third Test was perhaps the best as he scored 214* in the second innings to give a mammoth target of 557 to England.

India is currently leading the five-match Test series by 2-1 and India has a chance to seal the series in the fourth Test which will be played at the Jharkhand State Cricket Association Stadium in Ranchi. The hosts have not lost a Test series at home since 2012 and they are aiming to continue their unbeaten run at home by defeating England in the ongoing series. However, England can still win the series if they win the remaining two Test matches but it will be a difficult task for the visitors.