RAJKOT: When Yashasvi Jaiswal walked out to bat again on Sunday, it was after a heartbreak. Taking the long walk back to the dressing room was an incredibly disappointed Shubman Gill — who was run out on 91. The India’s No. 3 had looked solid all morning and was all set for another century.
That was when Kuldeep Yadav called for a single, Gill was watching the ball while running, before seeing the night-watchman saying ‘No’. By the time Gill panickingly tried to return with a full length dive, he was caught short at the non-striker’s end. As the giant display showed the replay, Kuldeep sank to his knees. Gill, understandably frustrated hit his bat on the pads before walking back to the pavilion. At this point, the scoreboard read 246/3. England still had a chance to induce a collapse and have a crack at whatever target they had in front of them. When Kuldeep got out shortly after, they smelled a chance. The lead was just over 380 — it was still less than the target England had in Visakhapatnam.
That is when one Mumbaikar, Sarfaraz Khan, joined another, Jaiswal, in the middle. Now, Jaiswal had already crossed his hundred and Sarfaraz had perhaps missed his in the first innings. Here, with the stage set, the duo turned Niranjan Shah Stadium into Azad Maidan. Together, they unleashed hell on English bowlers so much that not a single move of Ben Stokes was working. He would have an in and out leg side field, hoping that there would be a mishit against spinners, but Sarfaraz would flick Rehan Ahmed in the gap while Jaiswal brutally swept Joe Root to the boundary.
The post-lunch session became a blur of sorts as Jaiswal continued his onslaught after crossing the 150-run mark — this time against James Anderson. A full-length delivery scooped over the ropes. Then a charge and a loft over covers for six before launching the 41-year-old downtown. At one point, it reminded everyone of the George Bailey vs Anderson over from 2013 where the Australian would score 28 runs. Sarfaraz joined the party at the other end as he flicked Anderson in the gap, getting into 40s.
As Jaiswal got into the 190s, things got a bit interesting. Both were happy to pick singles, there were moments of denying twos or rather miscommunications and long discussions as it would happen between two batters approaching a milestone in club cricket. But once Sarfaraz reached his fifty, he went to Jaiswal, gave him a tight hug, and the same continued as Jaiswal got to the 200-run mark — his second consecutive double century. He became the third Indian to do so after Vinod Kambli and Virat Kohli. Once the milestone was done and dusted, Root was hit for a couple of sixes and on the course of it, Jaiswal equalled the record for most sixes in an innings (12) and became the first batter to hit 20 sixes in a series. That was not all — he (22y 49 days) joined Vinod Kambli (21y 54 days) and Don Bradman (21y 318 days), becoming the third youngest batter to score two Test double hundreds. Graeme Smith (22y 173d) is fourth on the list.
Meanwhile, Sarfaraz hit a fair share of boundaries himself before Rohit called them back, setting England a target of 557. Jaiswal 214 n.o and Sarfaraz 68. Another couple of overs, the latter would have been closer to his century. The carnage in the post lunch session from the two Mumbai lads was such that it seemed like they were taking on some school team in a Harris Shield match. What it also was was a teaser for what’s to come in India’s Test middle-order. For the two Mumbaikars are here to stay.
Youngest to score two Test 200s
Age at start of the match Player
21y 54d Vinod Kambli
21y 318d Don Bradman
22y 49d Yashasvi Jaiswal
22y 173d Graeme Smith
