RAJKOT: Yashasvi Jaiswal was taking guard against James Anderson a little after tea on Saturday. In this short period of the third session, the left-hander had put the firm pedal on the accelerator against spin — especially Tom Hartley — cruising from 19 off 54 to 35 from 73. He had seen Rohit Sharma get out and accompanied Shubman Gill to get the eye in.
The lead was 206 already, but having seen the way the surface behaved, it was clear that India needed more. Jaiswal, with a well established stroke-making ability, turned on a switch. Anderson came from around the wicket and pitched it short, only to see the ball sail into the stands. Jaiswal had hooked the 41-year-old seamer with disdain. The next ball, he threw everything he had at a fuller delivery — the ball took the outside edge and flew to the ropes. The final delivery was even better. Another short ball, this time pulled with authority for a four. In matter of three balls, Jaiswal was closing in on his fifty.
The milestone came fittingly against Hartley, with a knee-high full toss sent into the stands. The next ball, despite landing, faced the same fate as Jaiswal danced down the track and launched the left-arm spinner into the stands. From thereon, it didn’t really matter which spinner bowled. Joe Root came from around the wicket, trying to attack the stumps, but the 22-year-old found the gap between mid-on and midwicket for four. Rehan Ahmed, too wasn’t spared as the leg-spinner was sent over the ropes. Whether it was covering the line or getting to the pitch of the ball or letting the hands take over, the Mumbai batter was on top of everything. Such was his takedown that even Ben Stokes would have been proud of the two reverse sweeps Jaiswal hit for four in the same over of Rehan.
The thing with Jaiswal, though, is that he doesn’t go gung-ho irrespective of the context. He knows his strengths well, who to take on and who not to. When Mark Wood came on for a short burst, sending in bouncer after bouncer, Jaiswal was covering the line and defending the pacer with a straight bat and off the backfoot. When he eventually found some teeny tiny bit of width to free the arms, he slashed a back-of-length delivery through the off-side to get the three-figure mark. His second in this series, fourth overall. The trademark celebration followed with dressing room on his feet and the captain — Rohit — cheering him on. A 122-ball century after being on 19 from 54 at the start of the session.
There is a reason why Jaiswal has been fast-tracked, there is a reason why he is looked at as one of the few all-format talents in the country. In his 22nd first-class match and seventh Test, he had crossed the three-figure mark for the 12th time. The conversion rate is such that he has only four fifties, and as for consistency, the one on Saturday was his 16th 50-plus score in 38 innings. With this century, he also became only the second Indian since Rohit to score more than 400 runs in a home Test series in the last decade. With Gill, who had crossed his fifty, for company, he took India’s lead past 300. However, he could not see the day through. Complaining some issue with his back, Jaiswal had to retire with 104 runs next to his name.
India would lose Rajat Patidar to yet another bizarre soft dismissal, but Gill held fort as they finished the day with 196/2 and a 322-run lead on board.
While there is no further update on Jaiswal at the moment, India would hope that he is all right and can take field if needed. After all, as Ben Duckett- a centurion himself, said on Saturday evening, “he is a superstar in making, and he is in really good form at the moment.”
Indeed, he is. And Yashasvi Jaiswal is just getting started.
