When batting on 74 on Day 1 of the 2nd India vs England Test in Vizag, Yashasvi Jaiswal played a rare false shot, trying to cut a ball that came back in cramping him for room. A healthy edge would zoom past Joe Root a slip. It was probably a lapse in concentration for the youngster, but rather than going into a shell, he looked unfazed clobbering two half-volleys in the same over. From 90 to 100, he would face only 12 deliveries, hitting a four and a six.
On Day 2, batting on 183*, Jaiswal who had been all at sea against James Anderson since the start of play, would miss one that nipped back in – again one of those rare moments in his stay in the middle when he was beaten all ends up. England players appealed, which was turned down by the on-field umpire and even though DRS showed he had survived, it was mighty close. Four balls, later he would dance down the track to Shoaib Bashir hitting him over long-off for a six, entering the 190s. And in just three deliveries, he zoomed past 200 – with a sweep over square leg for a six and another swipe towards the same region for four to bring up his maiden double hundred.
For the second time in this Test Jaiswal would drop his bat and the helmet, arms raised, blow kiss. A superb knock becoming the first Indian to score a double in India since Mayank Agarwal’s 243 in 2019 and first double in India since Root’s 218 in 2021.
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In his career so far, Jaiswal has impressed everyone with his free-flowing stroke-making across all formats, but it is the longer format he has even in his first-class game showed his real value and talent as a cricketer – patience. Truckloads of runs and daddy hundreds were the usual pattern for Jaiswal even as he blazed away with incredible T20 scores at breakneck speed and strike rate.
His first Test innings in the West Indies showed how he values his wicket and how he is almost stubborn to not let go of his starts. He batted 387 balls at Roseau for his 171 – an innings in which he hit 16 fours and six. On a slow tricky pitch, Jasiwal waited and waited in patience for the loose deliveries and then unleashed his booming drives with every muscle in his wiry 6’ frame behind each shot.
He followed it up with a 57 at Port of Spain and in tough South African conditions failed to adapt to the pacy pitches. But, back home, where he has learned his skills and understands the conditions better than any, he was not going to falter. The Hyderabad 80 off just 74 balls was a response to England’s tactics and both his dismissals owed to the fact that he tried to manufacture score shots when he could have just bided his time.
Come the 2nd Test and Jaiswal course corrected. Against a probing spell of James Anderson early on he gave enough respect to the good deliveries, and it was only when anything came in his arc that he opened his arms. Rather than just going for his shots and trying to sweep at every given opportunity, Jaiswal used his feet to great effect hitting four off his seven sixes down the ground. Anything short from the spinners Jaisal cut with utmost precision finding the point and cover fence as many as eight times out of the 17 boundaries he hit in his innings.
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And it was his gear change when required that stood out during the innings, he upped the ante after reaching his hundred and then reined in his shots when wickets started falling around him. And when it felt that he would run out of partners, he shifted gears again against crucial 60 runs with the tail on Day 2 – 30 off them coming from his bat.
The fact that Jaiswal managed to score over 50 per cent of his team runs off a flat deck speaks volumes of the 22-year-old’s application in the middle, but it is a telling fact how bad the other Indians were. After Jaiswal’s 209, the next best score was Shubman Gill’s 34. The Indian batters did not per se gift their wickets away like Hyderabad, but despite an improved bowling performance from England batters, you would feel India have let away at least 60-70 runs more here, once again.
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