Yashasvi Jaiswal joined the likes of India’s former batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar and Ravi Shastri following his unbeaten 179-run onslaught on the opening day of the second Test against England at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium.
On Friday, Vizag witnessed Jaiswal’s prowess with the bat and his maturity to hold on to his end and keep the scoreboard ticking while stitching up small yet effective partnerships.
With his 179*, the 22-year-old became just the fourth Indian player to score Test hundreds in both home and away conditions before turning 23.
Along with this, he became the fourth batter to score most runs by an Indian batter on the first day of a Test match. Former opener Virender Sehwag features in this list thrice with his knocks of 228 against Pakistan in Multan in 2004, 195 against Australia in Melbourne in 2003 and 180 against West Indies in Gros Islet in 2006.
His knocks of 228 and 195 hold the top two spots while Wasim Jaffer’s 192 against Pakistan in Kolkata in 2007 is the third-highest score by an Indian batter on the opening day of a Test match. Shikhar Dhawan holds the number-fourth spot with a knock of 190 against Sri Lanka in Galle in 2017.
Coming specifically against England, Jaiswal is the fourth batter to score most runs in a day’s play. Karun Nair’s 232 in Chennai in 2016 remains at the top. Former India batter Sunil Gavaskar’s 179 at The Oval in 1979 is the second-highest score while former India skipper Mohammad Azharuddin also features in the list with his knock of 175 in Manchester in 1990.
Jaiswal’s knock was a perfect blend of attack and defence. The young left-handed batter adjusted his style of play according to the changing pitch conditions.
At the end of Day 1, India managed to put up 336/6 on the board with Jaiswal and Ravichandran Ashwin unbeaten on scores of 179* and 5* respectively.
