India vs England 2nd Test: Yashasvi Jaiswal succeeded where stars failed

Remember the name, Yashasvi Jaiswal. A year ago, the youngster from Uttar Pradesh wasn’t even in the scheme of things for international cricket, but fast forward to this year, he is one of the most sought-after cricketers out there. And in just in span of a year, he has three international centuries and six fifties. His third of those centuries came on Friday, courtesy a superlative unbeaten knock of 179 on the opening day of the second Test against England in Visakhapatnam.

India ended Day 1 with a total of 336/6, but if it wasn’t for the 22-year-old, the hosts would have had a tough time dealing with England’s spin heavy attack, plus James Anderson (who was the most economical with an economy rate of 1.80.) While Jaiswal scored 179, the other batters combined accounted for only 160. And the next best score after Jaiswal was Shubman Gill, who looked promising with a knock of 34 but his defensive technique was in question once again.

Jaiswal shows no nerves

On Friday, Jaiswal once again justified why he should be opening with skipper Rohit Sharma in Tests. It wasn’t just because he went onto put up a strong score, even better his previous highest score of 171 from last year. But, because of the fact that Jaiswal hardly showed any nerves in his knock.

Jaiswal was fearless with his approach, remained aware of the match situation, and even though India kept losing wickets at the other end, Jaiswal kept going with his game. Strike rotation is crucial when it comes to Tests, and Jaiswal succeeded in that as well. His shot placements were near perfect and the timing of his shots — impeccable. Simply put, Jaiswal showcased that he was miles better, and ahead of most of the seniors in his team. Rohit Sharma (14) never looked settled, and Shubman Gill (34) and Shreyas Iyer (27), both caught by Ben Foakes, were dismissed after getting starts.

And although Jaiswal forged a 90-run stand with Shreyas Iyer, it was the former who did most of the scoring (63 runs) during the partnership. Iyer, meanwhile, looked to play the cut for every other ball, before getting a bottom edge off the bat en route to Foakes off Tom Hartley’s ball.

Only if Rajat Patidar (32) had stayed on for at least 10 more overs, India would not be six down by now. Patidar was involved in a 70-run stand with Jaiswal. He would bat sensibly, utilising the front foot defence on multiple occasions, and would bring the reverse sweep against Joe Root in the 59th over. But for Patidar, runs soon started drying up after that, eventually perishing to Rehan Ahmed in the 72nd over.

However, all this while, there was one batter who looked unperturbed. Yashasvi Jaiswal.  Jaiswal showed why the opening day at Vizag was a batters’ paradise. He capitalised on those situations where none of the others could. Jaiswal controlled his shots well and saw off the disciplined England spinners in the second session when they bowled tight lengths. There wasn’t much on offer for spinners at the start of the day, but one could sense the gradual turn and movement of the ball towards the end of the day.

Despite a rather sedate start to his innings, Jaiswal would go onto pick up from when he left off last week (Jaiswal had missed out on a century in Hyderabad). Only difference here being, Jaiswal would go all the way and amass his second Test century.

For most part, Jaiswal looked untroubled. He got to his half-century in typical Jaiswal style, a boundary, this time through backward point for four. The Mumbai batter would then shift to his aggressive intent, playing the lofted drive over extra cover against Root in the 42nd over for a maximum, before punishing Hartley for three consecutive boundaries in the 45th. During this time, Jaiswal would survive a dismissal scare, getting dropped in the 70s, but once again, that did not hinder his rhythm whatsoever.

“I wanted to play it session by session. When they were bowling well, I just wanted to get through that spell. Initially, the wicket was damp and there was spin and bounce, with a bit of seam. However, I wanted to convert the loose balls, and play till the end,” Jaiswal said after the day.

Jaiswal was undoubtedly the standout India batter on Day 1 but his peers can possibly take a leaf out his book and follow Jaiswal’s fearless template. Because, once again, had it not been for Jaiswal, this Team India outfit may not have even got to 300. With his positive and never-say-never approach, with this knock, Jaiswal has possibly committed himself to batting as an opener, and setup as an example for others to follow.