Yashasvi Jaiswal’s favourite song is My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion. Luckily for India on Friday, along with his heart, his batting also went on and on.
If it didn’t, India would have found itself on the back foot on day one of the second Test against England at the Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy Stadium. Jaiswal is still there. India will want him to be there for some more time on Saturday.
Gifting away wickets
Riding on Jaiswal’s brilliant knock (179 batting, 257b, 17x4, 5x6), India finished at 336 for six. That is certainly two or three more wickets the host would have wanted to give away after choosing to bat. Some of those wickets were indeed given away, after the batters did well to get themselves in on a surface that looked good for batting.
None of the other batters reached 35, and that shows the significance of Jaiswal’s second Test hundred. That second hundred could have come in the first Test at Hyderabad, but he was one of the three Indian batters who got out in the 80s, which cost India dearly.
On this day, Jaiswal put a price on his wicket. He showed that in the years to come, his could be among the wickets the bowlers value more in international cricket.
It wasn’t easy early on, with the 41-year-old James Anderson, who hadn’t played for six months, coming up with a probing spell with the new ball. But Jaiswal raised 40 for the opening wicket with captain Rohit Sharma, who looked so determined that he didn’t hit even one boundary during his 41-ball stay.
Rohit’s watchful knock was ended by the debutant off-spinner Shoaib Bashir, who had to be ruled out of the first Test after his visa was delayed. The 20-year-old ran a few yards and pumped his arms in delight after his low off-break was glanced straight to leg-slip by the Indian skipper.
Anderson’s bunny
Shubman Gill (34, 46b, 5x4) raised hopes of getting back into form, but the magnificent Anderson had him caught behind. The champion bowler was dismissing him for the fifth time in seven Test innings.
Jaiswal added 90 for the third wicket with Shreyas Iyer, 70 for the fourth with debutant Rajat Patidar, who looked good while making 32, and 52 for the fifth with Axar Patel.
The elegant left-hander was a treat to watch: he timed his shots sweetly, was nimble with his footwork, drove and lofted with panache, and got to his hundred hitting the first-Test hero Tom Hartley over long-on for a six, dancing down the track.
Patidar gets the nod
Earlier, India made three changes to the eleven. Patidar and Kuldeep Yadav replaced the injured duo of K.L. Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja. Mukesh Kumar came in place of Mohammed Siraj, who has been released from the squad for this Test but will be available for the third Test, while the recently-released Avesh Khan has rejoined.
Sounds a little confusing? Maybe not as much as some of the shots Indian batters played to get out, especially after the disappointment in the first Test.
Scoreboard
India 1st Innings: Yashasvi Jaiswal batting 179 Rohit Sharma c Ollie Pope b Shoaib Bashir 14 Shubman Gill c Ben Foakes b James Anderson 34 Shreyas Iyer Ben Foakes b Hartley 27 Rajat Patidar b Rehan Ahmed 32 Axar Patelc Rehan Ahmed b Shoaib Bashir 27 Srikar Bharat c Shoaib Bashir b Rehan Ahmed 17 Ravichandran Ashwin batting 5 Extras: (NB-1) 1
Total (For 6 wickets in 93 Overs) 336
Fall of Wickets: 1-40, 2-89, 3-179, 4-249, 5-301, 6-330.
England bowling: James Anderson 17-3-30-1, Joe Root 14-0-71-0, Tom Hartley 18-2-74-1, Shoaib Bashir 28-0-100-2, Rehan Ahmed 16-2-61-2.
