Cautious at first and then destructive towards the end of the day’s play, young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal destroyed England’s bowling lineup on Day 2 of the third Test in Rajkot. Jaiswal smashed his third Test century of his career to help India gain control of the proceedings in the third Test.
Jaiswal became the seventh fastest to three Test hundreds alongside Virender Sehwag and Sanjay Manjrekar. He also joined Dilip Vengsarkar, Ravi Shastri, Sachin Tendulkar, and Vinod Kambli who had two Test centuries to their name in a single series at the age of 23. Only Mohammad Azharuddin (3) and Sunil Gavaskar (4) had more Test centuries for India at this age in a particular series.
For his aggressive approach, Jaiswal has been compared with Sehwag. The former Indian opener had an average of 53.51 in Tests after 13 innings and scored runs at a strike rate of 66.63. On the other hand, Jaiswal before he retired out due to back spasms had an average of 62.58 and a strike rate of 65.59. He has scored 751 runs in the format after making his debut last year in July.
If he comes out to bat on Day 3 and gets out early, his average may decrease but his strike rate is unlikely to take a hit.
Sehwag has downplayed all the comparisons saying it is too early to draw any parallels.
"He is a very good batsman but I think comparisons are too early," Sehwag told PTI after Jaiswal scored a double hundred in the Visakhapatnam Test.
On Day 3, Jaiswal took his time to settle and did not throw his wicket away against the new ball. A few overs into the third session, he started attacking. He charged down the track and hit big shots and even employed reverse sweeps to score boundaries which amused head coach Rahul Dravid.
He hit as many as five sixes and nine fours in his 104-run knock from 133 deliveries at a strike rate of 78.20. After receiving medical attention from the physio twice, he had to walk back to the dressing room.
MORE ON SPORTS TAK:
'Ranji Trophy should be scrapped': Manoj Tiwary frustrated over current state of country's premier domestic tournament
Veteran batter, who played 13 international matches for India and reversed retirement decision, completes 10,000 First-Class runs; celebration video goes viral
