Rohit Sharma lauds Yashasvi Jaiswal after special debut
India seem to have unearthed yet another gem as Yashasvi Jaiswal took home the Player of the Match in his Test debut against West Indies.
Yashasvi Jaiswal made the world take notice in his Test debut against West Indies. However, it wasn’t the flashy strokes that everybody had become accustomed to during his IPL stint earlier this year but it was the temperament that stood out.
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The 21-year-old scored 171 against West Indies, the third-highest for an Indian opener on debut and the highest away from home. For a player that has all the eye-pleasing strokes in his repertoire, Jaiswal showed incredible restraint on a pitch that had plenty of demons as the match progressed.
The third-highest score by an Indian on Test debut 🔥
Yashasvi Jaiswal 👏#WTC25 | #WIvIND | 📝: https://t.co/gPEvNeiqUe pic.twitter.com/TwxBj4Kn0k
— ICC (@ICC) July 14, 2023
Jaiswal’s first innings in international cricket lasted more than eight hours (501 minutes), playing out 387 balls for his 171.
Rohit Sharma was at the other end for much of the knock as he scored a Test century of his own, his 10th in the longest format. After the match, the skipper heaped praise on the youngster.
“He’s got the talent,” Rohit said. “We knew about it. He’s shown us in the past couple of years that he’s ready for this big stage. Came and batted sensibly, showed a lot of patience, and the temperament was tested as well – at no stage [did it look] like he was panicking or going away from his plans, which was good to see.”
Dream Test debut for Yashasvi Jaiswal 🔥
How it happened ➡️ https://t.co/jNI9E8d0hO #WIvIND | #WTC25 pic.twitter.com/rsI2Ac6kgv
— ICC (@ICC) July 14, 2023
Rohit revealed the one piece of advice he kept offering Jaiswal during their partnership of 229 for the opening wicket.
“In the middle, it was just about having a chat, letting him know, ‘You belong here.’ That is the most important thing, because when you’re playing your first Test match, you kind of keep asking yourself whether you belong here or not, but my job from the other side was to just keep telling him, ‘You’ve done all the hard yards, it’s just about enjoying your time in the middle. Don’t worry about the results, just enjoy your time, and if you do that the results will flow.'”
India managed to put on a massive total of 421/5 before declaring on Day 3 with a massive lead of 271 runs. On a pitch that would have reminded the Indian bowlers of conditions back home, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja made merry as the Windies innings folded for just 130.
Dropped from the XI in the World Test Championship Final, Ashwin made a statement with 12/131 in the match (5/60 and 7/71), the second-best match figures for an Indian spinner outside the sub-continent.
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Ashwin and Jadeja have been wreaking havoc for more than a decade together and Rohit had admired what the duo have been doing for such a long time.
“The results speak for themselves,” Rohit said. “Both of these guys have been doing it for a while for us now. They know exactly what is expected out of them. There’s not much to tell them [about] what we need to do. It’s just about going to them and giving them that freedom to go and express, because that is when they’re doing their best for the side as well.
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Two-time World Test Championship finalists India put their first points on board in the 2023-25 cycle with 141-run innings win. The action now moves to Port of Spain for the second Test starting 20 July.
