It’s been an interesting start to Yashasvi Jaiswal’s Test career. Since making his debut nearly 18 months back in the Caribbean, he has played 18 games — his first four overseas, the next 10 at home and the last four here in Australia. Form and injury permitting, his next six Tests too will be outside India — one in Sydney, five in England (assuming India don’t make the final of the World Test Championship). Within two years at the Test level, the left-hander would have played a bouquet of matches in the West Indies, South Africa, Australia and England.

Dodgy pitches in South Africa tested batters of all ilk and Jaiswal was no exception, making 17, 5, 0 and 28 in the third and fourth matches of his fledgling career. When he was dismissed without scoring in the first innings in Perth, unfounded whispers about his (lack of) ability to adapt to unfamiliar conditions began to gather momentum. In the last month and a half, the 23-year-old has gone a long way towards preventing those whispers from snowballing into something more sinister.