Jaiswal century edges India ahead on day 1 in Visakhapatnam
India v England, 2nd February 2024.
India 336–6
Act One: “This kid could bat all day”.
Mid-way through the opening session of the 2nd Test Match in the coastal city of Visakhapatnam I posted the praise noted above to my oh so popular Twitter channel (@steveblackford) and so naturally come the end of the day’s play with the kid in question, Yashasvi Jaiswal, having “carried his bat” throughout the entire day to remain overnight on a not out total of 179, I appeared to have the knowledge of a cricketing sage. Modesty prevents me from making such an outlandish statement but the kid, a 22 year old from Suriyawan in the Indian State of Uttar Pradesh, should have secured a century in the opening Test Match of this series, I had the very real pleasure of watching him plunder a debut century against an albeit weak West Indies in July last year and frankly, he looks in top form. Nerveless. Adventurous. Attacking. And with all the verve and confidence of a superstar in the making.
As always, eagerness ensures we’re getting ahead of ourselves and so returning to the beginning of the day, as the television images from the other side of the world depicted the Bay of Bengal gently lapping ashore the rocky beaches of Visakhapatnam and I yearned for the nearby beaches of my youth, the 3.30am alarm clock was greeted with the news that Indian captain Rohit Sharma had won the toss and immediately announced he wished to bat first. Watching the hypnotic waves in my half awake/half asleep state, I marvelled at the perfectly circular ACA–VDCA Cricket Stadium and an ever growing crowd inside a “high scoring venue” and settled in with my first cup of tea of the morning, and an opening session of play that would see the home team rattling up over a hundred runs and the kid from Suriyawan not out at the Lunch Break with over 50 runs to his name.
Reaching 103–2 at Lunch it had been India’s morning but this was more than a little unkind to an England team who had bowled well despite conceding over a hundred runs and had constantly pressed for further wickets whilst bowling tightly and in complimentary partnerships. Joe Root once again opened the bowling and today he accompanied the oldest swinger in town, 41 year old James “Jimmy” Anderson. The ageless Anderson was magnificent as always and fully deserving of more than his one wicket, that of Shubman Gill who tickled a thin edge through to wicket-keeper Ben Foakes after scoring 34 unconvincing runs. Anderson barely leaked a run all morning, a pattern he’d brilliantly continue throughout the day.
After reaching the mid-session break for drinks on 40–0, as is so familiar to fans of this great game a wicket soon follows after the resumption of play and today it was Indian captain Rohit Sharma. It rather boggles the mind when you consider that two Test Matches into this series India have scored well in excess of 900 total runs and their talismanic free scoring leader has barely registered in the runs column. That dearth in runs continued this morning as in just the second over following the break in play, Sharma played a lazy and loose flick into the grateful hands of Ollie Pope at Leg Slip and Shoaib Bashir, forced to miss the opening Test Match due to the authoritarian bureaucracy of needing a visa to enter the country, had his first “scalp” and wicket on his full debut. The 20 year old from Chertsey near London would have a debut to remember as well as the forever memory of snagging the master batsman Rohit Sharma as his first ever Test Match wicket.
103–2 at Lunch signalled it was India’s morning, and Yashasvi Jaiswal was just getting started.
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Act Two: Something old. Something new
The afternoon session continued in the same vein as the morning and a pattern was set too for the day’s final session later with the hosts scoring in excess of a hundred runs in each session as their visitors toiled gamely away in resistance. 122 total runs were scored in this session for the loss of only 1 wicket, that of Shreyas Iyer for 27 and after he’d finally lost his personal battle with England spin bowler, Tom Hartley. Iyer continually moved across his crease as Hartley was in his bowling stride, a habit transferred from the shorter form of the game with the batsman intimating that he’s “making room” for an expansive shot to a lesser defended side of the field. Hartley was clearly annoyed, stopping several times mid-action to commence his routine all over again, but secured the last laugh on his opponent when Iyer under-edged a sharp catch into the wicket-keeping gloves of Ben Foakes.
Shreyas Iyer and Yashasvi Jaiswal had added 76 runs since the Lunch Break, taking their team total to 179–3 at the fall of Iyer’s wicket but from hereon in, Jaiswal held centre stage. He gave just one half-chance for his wicket when on 73 and a chance that barely shouldn’t register as an extra “life” as his flashing drive saw the ball fly through the out-stretched fingertips of Joe Root at 1st Slip. It was hardly even a half-chance but noted here as aside from this the young batsman never looked in trouble or likely to lose his wicket as he galloped to his century from 151 balls received, the last of which from Tom Hartley he dismissively smashed into a baying crowd for a boundary 6, before reaching the Tea Break unbeaten and not out on 125 from 185 balls received. Partnered now by debutant Rajat Patidar, the 30 year old was equally assured and nerveless as he rested at the break on 25 runs from 47 balls received and their team total an extremely healthy 225–3 after undoubtedly “winning” the first two sessions of the day.
Act Three: Child’s Play
Finishing the day on 336–6, simple mathematics dictate that India scored another century of runs in the session (111) but for the first time today lost more than 2 wickets in the process. England deserved their successes as they toiled and “plugged away” all day long and whilst James Anderson didn’t add to his haul of wickets he was magnificent once more as he barely gave away any runs and celebrated the wickets his tight bowling aided and abetted. Leg spin bowler Rehan Ahmed snagged Rajat Patidar after he added just 7 further runs to his pre-Tea total of 25 before under-edging a wickedly spinning delivery back onto his stumps and then safely pouched a catch to dismiss the dangerous Axar Patel off the bowling of Shoaib Bashir before the debutant returned the favour and safely caught Srikar Bharat off the bowling of Ahmed when the wicket-keeper batsman had reached 17.
Once again this continued with the pattern of the day as a whole with each and every Indian batsman reaching double figures and each assisting in significant batting partnerships with Yashasvi Jaiswal, the man of the cricketing hour. Rohit Sharma partnered for 40 runs, Shubman Gill 49, Shreyas Iyer 90, Rajat Patidar 70, Axar Patel 52 and Srikar Bharat the lowest at just 29, but each and every partnership ensured their team scored well over 300 runs in the day and Yashasvi Jaiswal, an astonishing 179 of them. The kid with the flashing blade scored over half of his team’s total runs today, half of the team’s total boundary 4’s and 5 of the team’s total of 6 boundary 6’s. Finishing the day on 179 not out from 257 balls received, he duly received a rapturous ovation from the Visakhapatnam crowd as well as his teammates waiting to receive him in the Pavilion after a quite incredible, and quite possibly match winning innings.
The consensus after today’s play, whether it be television, radio or podcast, was that England had “won” the day by virtue of restricting India to just 336 runs on a wicket full of runs and snagging 6 wickets in the process. Being the arch contrarian I vehemently disagree on the basis that India have a not out batsman on 179, a batting “tail” full of runs and already 336 in the score books. Any team with a batsman returning just 21 runs short of a double century, 4 wickets in hand and over 330+ runs on the scoreboard must be in front after the opening day of a Test Match, but I’ve been wrong before.
I just choose not to publicise such failures!
But India are in front after day 1 and England need to dismiss Jaiswal early tomorrow and mop up the tail, lest they be 450+ runs adrift on 1st innings and the “scoreboard pressure” this brings.
Crucial first hour and opening session tomorrow.
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