Smith added that Jaiswal knocks on the door of the national team with all the ferocity, having already scored 575 points in IPL 2023.
“He (Jaiswal) has been amazing. He has watched his domestic performance and growth in his game since last season. The natural ability to find gaps and build his leg side strength and hasn’t come out for turn, which is a huge positive,” Smith told PTI during an interaction.
“…and he’s got a really good all-around game, but when you talk to him what comes out is he’s very determined. He takes a lot in his stride and now there’s pressure on him to get higher honors and the way he handles it is superb.”
“In terms of selection (in the Indian team) he is definitely knocking on the door with performances and that’s all he can do. Indian cricket is blessed with so many options. India have Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill and the coaches have a nice headache because he (Jaiswal) has certainly put his name there in the conversation.”
Smith, a former director of Cricket South Africa, also believes that the BCCI and national selectors must have a clear policy for the T20 team and also decide on the future of certain senior stars in the shorter format.
“One thing Indian cricket has to decide is the strategy on senior players and in T20 cricket what is their strategy going forward with the white ball tournament every year. I think the area that is starting to look strong is intermediate level with Tilak VermaSKY and Jitesh, you have a lot of power players.
“With (skipper) Hardik (Pandya) as the all-rounder, the middle order looks strong and the big call will be the future of the senior players,” he said.
Virat Kohli (IANS photo)
“Virat may seek to sweep spinners as a scoring option”
Smith wants Virat Kohli to use different scoring options like the sweep shot against spinners after the power play after the Indian star hitter’s “take the game deep” approach came in for some criticism.
Kohli scored over 400 runs as he opened innings for Royal Challengers Bangalore in this IPL at a strike rate of over 133, but he was unable to force the scoring pace through the middle.
“It’s hard to say if anyone has been such a good hitter. Two things that stand out to me are the Indian hitters around Virat at RCB and they are very short,” Smith said.
“I think the middle order struggled after No. 3. They tried a few combinations. Then in Nos. 5 and 6 they struggled and the pressure was on Virat (Kohli), Faf ( du Plessis) and (Glenn) Maxwell will be the main performer. If RCB can find areas of support, that can free up Virat even more,” Smith added.
Unlike Mumbai Indians hitter Suryakumar Yadav who is a great representative of the sweeping game, Kohli’s scoring areas are more traditional.
“We know Virat doesn’t sweep a lot against the spin and he pretty much plays on the floor. And if you were to set fields you can probably do that and control his boundary count after the six overs and that’s maybe – be an area he can assess.”
Smith agreed with former rival Ricky Ponting that there is no place for anchor hitters, especially in Indian conditions.
“Listen, I agree with Ricky on his sentiment. The only thing I would add is that conditions have to be taken into account. In India, there is no place for anchor hitters and scores in this IPL have been high and even higher with Impact players and sometimes need 215, 220 to be in the game,” he said.
“The way the game has changed, I think Powerplay is slightly more manageable because there are more outfielders in the ring. As soon as the field is extended and the spinners come into play, people like SKY have changed the game and they are so dynamic that they score all over the pitch. They sweep and make it difficult because they are mentally ready to face the game all the time.”
(With PTI entries)
