India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal didn’t let missing out on a century in his debut home Test dwell on him, instead, he is looking to use it as a learning curve.
Jaiswal made England taste their ‘Bazball’ style of play in the opening Test with his quick-paced 80 off 74 balls.
During his time on the crease, he completely spun England spinners around and looked poised for an extended time on the crease. But Joe Root’s off-spin caught the 22-year-old as he tried to clear the boundary.
“I knew that at some stage he (Root) was going to bowl. I was prepared for him. He can bowl first over. But as I said, I was trying my best to do what I could and sometimes I can make a mistake and get out. Still, I’m learning. If I do make a mistake, I’ll make sure that I try to learn from it,” Jaiswal said in the post-day press conference.
Among the three frontline spinners he targeted debutant Tom Hartley and their head-to-head statistics read 44 runs in 26 balls with six fours and two sixes.
OVerall, Jaiswal’s 80 was laced with ten boundaries and three maximums. He backed the way he started his knock even if he was unable to get to a ton.
“Of course, it would have been amazing if I would have scored a hundred. But what took me there was my thinking and my process to score runs and I was quite positive in my mind and I was just thinking, making sure I can build an innings. But it was good actually,” Jaiswal said.
“This is my first Test match in India and I was just thinking of contributing well and doing well for my team. When I was playing in the West Indies and South Africa, it was quite a different environment. Here also the environment is quite different. I was really enjoying all the places, of course. It is a proud and honour moment every time I go and play for my country,” Jaiswal added.
Coming to Day 2 action, Ravindra Jadeja (81*) and Axar Patel’s (35*) 63-run stand helped India take a healthy 175-run lead and post a total of 421/7 on the board.
Yashsvi Jaiswal (80) and KL Rahul (86) further bolstered India’s position in the opening Test.(ANI)
