Former India batter turned commentator Sanjay Manjrekar praised Yashasvi Jaiswal for his backfoot play during his stunning century in the ongoing first Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test in Perth. Following a duck in his first innings, Jaiswal unleashed his arsenal to score 161 off 297 deliveries in the second innings as well. The knock included 15 boundaries and three maximums as well.

Highlighting the backfoot aspect of Jaiswal’s innings, Manjrekar said on Star Sports, “The square cut- he plays it a little later, which may not be ideal, but the back foot punch is something to love now in both those shots that you see there guys well, the new King (Jaiswal) likes to be on the back foot, unlike the reigning king (Kohli) who wants to be on the front foot, and as a result of that, he got 64% of the runs behind square. And that’s something I think Virat Kohli might just want to have a look at because that’s an area where he doesn’t look to score off at all.”

Sanjay Manjrekar also opined on Yashasvi Jaiswal’s backfoot play and highlighted how playing on the backfoot gives more time for a batter and allows him to play the ball late as well.

“It’s also an indication of two things. One that he obviously has. Some white ball instincts, the T20 instincts, plus the fact the guys who played that shot are in position very early. They have that extra second to think about. You know what? I might just tap this ball on the way plays the cut, which is a little later than most batters do. What a fantastic innings from Yashasvi,” Sanjay Manjrekar concluded.