Jaffer impresses Boycott

Geoffrey Boycott has managed to retrieve a glimmer of hope for the Indians from the Barbados Test.

"Yes, they were outplayed comprehensively but their new opening pair showed promise in the second innings, especially (Wasim) Jaffer. This boy can play well off the backfoot which is necessary for any opener in the international arena. Indians are generally very good players when they come forward. But on wickets abroad, the ball bounces more and to counter it you need to play well off your backfoot. Jaffer executed his backfoot shots perfectly. And I was impressed with his shot selection too. It appeared that he has a good thinking brain on his shoulders. He is a good prospect," said Boycott.

But the legendary England and Yorkshire opener was not so pleased with what he saw of Shiv Sunder Das. "He seems to have too many problems. Let him correct those first. Otherwise, he has the ability to stay at the wicket for some time. That's good. But he has to be careful once he is set. The more time he'll spend on the wicket, the more confident he'll feel and that'll help him to make big scores," he said.

The duo make for a fine study in contrasts. While Jaffer is aggressive, Das tends to be rather defensive. To one of the finest openers of all-time, that goes well when they are playing as a pair. "Runs will be scored, the scoreboard will keep ticking and the pressure on them as well as on the batsmen to follow will be reduced significantly. They should be cautious about judging singles since after getting such a beautiful start, they can't ruin it the way they did it at Kensington Oval," he added.

India has always been looking for two quality openers but could not find them. That's the root cause behind the string of poor results abroad. If these two can reprise their second innings performances more regularly, the Indians can hope to turn the corner abroad, Boycott felt.

"The middle-order is getting runs. Sourav (Ganguly) has found his touch and he is patient out there in the middle. All the other batsmen have got runs in the series. So once the openers put some runs on the board, the situation can take a new look. Let's hope they do it consistently. Only then India have a chance to come back in the series," he opined.