London [UK], June 18 (ANI): Heading into the first Test against England at Leeds starting from Friday, plenty of hopes will rest on the young shoulders of opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, who at the age of just 23, has earned a reputation for himself as one of the world’s best openers in longest format of the game.
The strokeplay, audacity and consistency Jaiswal has showcased in the last couple of years serve as a throwback to the good old days when prime Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli bossed world-class bowlers in their 20s.
The southpaw ended the previous World Test Championship (WTC) cycle as the second-highest run-getter, scoring 1,798 runs in 19 matches and 36 innings at an average of 52.88, with four centuries (two of them converted into double tons) and 10 fifties. His best score was 214*.
Having played just one WTC, Jaiswal, with 39 sixes, is already among the top four six-hitters in competition’s history, behind his ex-opening partner and skipper Rohit Sharma (56 each) and Ben Stokes (83). He ended as the leading six-hitter of the 2023-25 cycle.
His batting average of 52.88 is simply stunning as he is batting in an era that is increasingly getting difficult for openers, with the worldwide average of openers collectively being just over 30 since his Test debut in July 2023.
-Time for another duel with a legend after fine showings against Anderson, Starc?
There is more to Jaiswal than these sixes and basic batting statistics. His eagerness to have duels with the world’s best bowlers is an exciting trait and could place him in some blockbuster match-ups in future. His hat-trick of sixes against legendary James Anderson on England’s tour to India last year served as the first example of sheer disregard this Mumbai dasher had for seniority, legendary status and over 700 wickets taken in Test cricket by England’s most cherished ageless pace wonder.
Once on the field, Anderson was just another opponent against whom he was supposed to come out swinging and as suggested by the strike rate of 65.33, he swung hard. Even two dismissals in seven innings against the legend did not deter his confidence. During the entire series, Jaiswal accumulated 98 runs in 150 deliveries against the English icon, hitting nine fours and four sixes against him.
This fearlessness and determination to take on the best, dubbed as the ‘Khadoos’ brand of cricket in the Mumbai circuit, travelled to Australian shores towards the year-end. At Perth, he was dismissed by Mitchell Starc, a multi-time World-Cup-winning yorker specialist in the first innings for an eight-ball duck.
In the second innings, Jaiswal looked the legend in the eyes, saying that his deliveries were “coming too slow”, indirectly suggesting that age was taking its toll on the then 34-year-old. Not left shaken by someone who had been for long leaving legends staring at their uprooted stumps after a stunning inswinger or yorker, Jaiswal made a meal out of him in his audacious knock at Perth, scoring 161 in 297 balls. Against Starc in that knock, Jaiswal scored a quick 51 in 69 balls, with seven fours and a six.
While Starc dismissed him twice more in the series, the fact that the leftie scored 133 runs (in 203 balls and 10 innings) out of his 391 total runs in the series, almost one-third, against this much-respected left-armer at a strike rate of over 65, meant that in Jaiswal’s cricketing philosophy, legends are not to be played with safety, but with disdain. With a century, two gritty half-centuries and as India’s top run-getter, Jaiswal passed the big Australian assignment with an A+ to his name. Out of a total of 44 fours and four sixes hit during the tour, he saved 20 of these boundaries and a six just for Starc.
With England having legendary all-rounder Ben Stokes and an underrated Chris Woakes in their squad, who boasts an excellent home record, is it time for Jaiswal to tame them?
-Jaiswal’s success in SENA nations over the years?
After his success in Australia, the 23-year-old’s all-weather technique, strokeplay and composure make him a favourite to take forward the legacy of Sachin, Virat and Rahul Dravid as India’s next South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia (SENA) specialist. These legends have made a name for themselves by bailing India out of crisis, away from home.
While his 50 runs in two Tests, four innings in South Africa is a short sample size, he does have an outstanding white-ball record in that part of the world, with 602 runs in 12 innings at under-19 level, at an average of 75.25, a century and six fifties to his name. He topped the run-charts in the 2020 U19 World Cup played there, scoring 400 runs in six innings at a mind-boggling average of 133.33, with a century and four half-centuries.
Jaiswal is yet to play a Test match in England. His two unofficial Tests against England Lions were not too spectacular, managing only one fifty in four innings. But there are two things he can take inspiration from, last year’s breakthrough England series at home, during which he top-scored with a whooping 712 runs in five matches at an average of 89.00, strike rate of almost 80, two double centuries and three fifties.
The other thing is his white-ball record at U19 level in England, with 294 runs in seven innings at an average of 42.00, with four half-centuries. While one can argue that U19 cricket and facing a Stokes-powered England are two different ball games, these seven games could serve as something he could look back on and take some mental notes.
During the tour to Australia, he was dubbed as the “heir to the King” by the media there, the one who could take the baton from Virat, now a one-format player for India. Will Jaiswal become India’s all-weather crisis man and live up to the hype? (ANI)
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