3 problems behind Yashasvi Jaiswal’s recent Test failures

Yashasvi Jaiswal has been one of India’s most exciting Test openers in recent years, but his form has dipped sharply in recent months. His last three Test innings produced scores of 24, 32, and 0, with failures coming against Afghanistan and Sri Lanka.

The most recent low point arrived on August 18, 2026, when Jaiswal was dismissed for a three-ball duck on Day 4 of the first Test in Galle, nicking off to hand Sri Lanka early momentum.

here are three problems leading to Yashasvi jaiswal’s test failures:

1. High-risk aggression against the new ball

Jaiswal’s attacking approach from the very first ball has been a hallmark of his Test career, but it has also created difficulties in recent outings. In the Galle Test second innings, he attempted to repeat his aggressive style without accounting for the additional turn on a rougher surface, and was dismissed cheaply as a result. A similar pattern appeared in the second innings of the first Test against South Africa in Kolkata on November 16, 2025, where he missed attempted cut shots off the first two balls before nicking the fourth delivery behind. Cheteshwar Pujara publicly identified a technical problem in that dismissal, and Aakash Chopra stated that Jaiswal is adamant he has to play the cut whenever he sees the ball slightly short and wide. Playing high-risk strokes at the top of an innings in Test cricket offers very little room for error.

2. Footwork and vulnerability to left-arm seamers

Jaiswal’s footwork has also drawn attention from analysts. Aakash Chopra noted that his vulnerability against left-arm seamers is visible across formats. In the first innings of the Kolkata Test, Jaiswal inside-edged Marco Jansen, a left-arm seamer, onto his stumps. In the second innings of the same match, he was caught behind off Jansen for a four-ball duck. When the ball angles in or moves away late, a batter who does not commit fully forward or back is exposed to edges and LBW chances, and Jaiswal’s dismissals in this period reflect that pattern.

3. Playing away from the body early in his innings

A third issue is Jaiswal’s tendency to play away from his body early in his innings. In the Galle Test second innings on August 18, 2026, many described the dismissal as Jaiswal giving it away early by nicking off. In the third Test of the England versus India 2025 series at Lord’s on July 13, 2025, he was caught behind for a seven-ball duck in the second innings, a mode of dismissal consistent with hard hands and the bat moving away from the body trunk. In that same Lord’s Test, his first-innings score was just 13. Reaching for deliveries outside off-stump before the eye is fully in leaves the outside edge exposed, and this has been a recurring theme across Jaiswal’s recent Test dismissals.

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