Jaiswal Vows To Fight: But Tendulkar Never Fought Bowlers Who Sledged Him

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) It seems Indian batsman Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was fined for his on-field clash with Sri Lankan bowler Asitha Fernando in the second Test in Colombo, needs to strike a balance between fire and ice.

Jaiswal and Fernando were slapped with a fine of 25 per cent of their match fees by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday.

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While sledging and banter are part of the game, as long as they don't cross the line, getting into a physical tussle with an opponent is sacrilege in cricket, a non-contact sport.

Following the ugly confrontation between the two players on Sunday, renowned Indian cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle opined on why physical altercations can never be accepted in cricket, even if a player is provoked by an opponent on the field.

The incident took place on the first day of the second Test. After being dismissed for 45 in the first innings, Jaiswal was beginning to walk back to the pavilion when he got a fiery send-off from Fernando, the Sri Lankan pacer.

Jaiswal turned back to confront the bowler before pushing him with his helmet.

Bhogle felt Jaiswal should have ignored the provocation.

“The easiest thing is just to go away. With Jaiswal, so much talent but just bubbling underneath, he's a slightly combative person,” Bhogle said on Cricbuzz.

“And the last thing I would want for someone of his extraordinary ability is to let that person override the extraordinary batter that he is and get him into a little bit of trouble.”

But Jaiswal hit back at Bhogle with a stern message on social media.

“If you don't know what he said, then please don't make your judgment,” the 24-year-old batter wrote.

“If someone crosses the line, we need to let them know. This India will fight and reply.”

While there is so much to admire about Jaiswal's sublime talent with the bat and his incredible backstory of emerging from poverty to become one of India's cricket poster boys in the post-Covid era, a bit of humility will do the emerging star a world of good.

It's incredible how a young boy who was selling 'pani puri' (an Indian snack) on the streets of Mumbai until a few years ago has now become one of the world's best young batsmen.

Jaiswal is on track to become a complete batter; his performances across formats and in different conditions bear testimony to his incredible potential.

But there is still so much more for him to learn about the art of building an innings - both in cricket and in life.

Does he want to follow in the footsteps of Sachin Tendulkar, arguably the greatest cricketer to have emerged from India?

If that is his benchmark, scoring runs is not the only pathway to every fan's heart.

Tendulkar faced sledging from the time he made his debut at the age of 16 against a hostile Pakistan bowling attack in 1989.

The only way Tendulkar replied was not by fighting, but by letting his bat do the talking - whether it was against Waqar Younis, Abdul Qadir or Glenn McGrath.

In his debut Test series, Tendulkar was hit by a vicious Waqar bouncer, which left the then-teenager with a swollen nose.

The Pakistani fielders taunted him, asking him to leave the crease because Test cricket was not an arena for kids.

Instead of leaving the ground, Tendulkar played on and produced a defiant half-century, bailing India out of a precarious situation.

Now, fans can only hope that Jaiswal will take a leaf out of Tendulkar's book instead of vowing to fight with rival players on the field, regardless of the provocation.

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