VISAKHAPATNAM: India wanted to book a bed and breakfast on a pitch high on batting nutrients (read: run-making). By lunch, those plans were in some danger of unravelling as both Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill had failed to capitalise on a good batting surface. The jeopardy was dialled up to 10 as the batting line-up was low on form, total runs and experience.
However, experience is one of those things that's difficult to quantify on most days. Sure, it counts for something but what exactly? Perhaps, like Ben Stokes said, it's overrated. On Friday, Yashasvi Jaiswal put his hands up with a commanding display to put India in an okay-ish position on the opening day of the second Test.
On a day when some of the other batters were happy to play the long game, Jaiswal's naturally attacking instincts took over. A day before the Test, batting coach Vikram Rathour said he wanted his wards to show instinct. The southpaw showed it from the word go, with two of his first three scoring shots being boundaries, both coming front of square off Joe Root, who shared the new ball with James Anderson.
His opening partner, though, was being cautious. Perhaps, it was a natural byproduct of a line-up lacking an elder statesman apart from him. He was also cautious of wanting to make the best use of the surface after winning the toss for the first time in six Tests. Whatever it was, it didn't look all that convincing. In the process, the hosts also failed to put a few boundary balls away.
The sucker punch came along as debutant Shoaib Bashir removed him, the fielder at leg-slip completing a low catch.
With Rajat Patidar, on debut, and a Ravindra Jadeja-shaped hole in the middle-order, the onus was on the top order to stand up. It's why Rohit's experience as an opener was priceless. He has been the world's best in these conditions over the last three years. With him gone just after the first hour, the task to marshall it may have been on the likes of Gill or Shreyas Iyer. The former is seemingly the heir to the Virat Kohli throne while the latter is one of the best spin-hitters in this team. Both of them, worryingly from an Indian perspective, continued to bely those prophecies.
But it was Jaiswal -- the prince that was promised all along? -- who married his uncluttered mind with unfettered shot-making to light up an already sun-kissed YSR ACA-VDCA Stadium. The authority that he displayed wouldn't have been out of place in a principal's office while speaking to an errant child. Whenever the spinners erred in line or length he was severe. He also used his feet several times -- a play that generally goes missing when his compatriots play that bowling type -- to play the lofted stroke inside the V.
In fact, he got to his 100 when he lofted Tom Hartley over long-on. The celebrations told their own story: a few polite kisses to the crowd, a look skywards and some genteel outward synchronised movement of both arms.
But it's not that he wasn't tested. You are always tested as an opening batter when the guy with the new ball is Anderson.
What he lacks in pace, he makes up for it in accuracy, guile and skills; three of the most important currencies for a fast bowler. He was circumspect in the morning session when the veteran came in from the Dr Vizzy End. There were a few occasions when the 22-year-old could have followed the trajectory of the ball but resisted the temptation to do so. In all of Anderson's subsequent spells, the 41-year-old was getting the ball to nibble a bit.
The end result? Out of the 179 (257b, 17x4, 5x6) he remained unbeaten on, only eight (47b, zero boundaries) came off against the pacer. Against the rest, he was like a human calculator, mind constantly working. What balls to leave? What deliveries to hit? How to work the angles? Even if Root put down two very hard chances at first slip, it was exactly the sort of innings both Rathour and coach Rahul Dravid had asked of their batters post that defeat at Hyderabad.
"There are young batters in our team who have not played much Test cricket," Rathour had said. "So, we need to be a bit patient with them. Batters like (Shubman) Gill, (Yashasvi) Jaiswal and (Shreyas) Iyer will eventually start getting big runs, I'm sure of it."
A few days later, the UP-born batter, playing only his second Test at home, vindicated the faith shown in him.
The hosts will have breakfast on Saturday morning at 336/6. If they have designs of enjoying their lunch, Jaiswal's ambitions should be beyond a double.
