Quite mature for his age and unusually silent for someone so successful, Yashasvi Jaiswal was once asked by his coach at Rajasthan Royals, the Sri Lankan great Kumara Sangakkara, to loosen up and smile more. Jaiswal would answer matter-of-factly: “Whenever a situation demands, I do laugh and laugh openly.”
At Headingley, on the first day of the India-England five-Test series, Jaiswal did laugh openly. Actually, he went hysterical in the celebration of his first hundred in England, an inning that sent out a strong message to the world: the Indian batting story never ends.
A little over a month after Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli had retired from Test cricket, the news that sent the cricket-crazy nation of a billion-plus fans into a pall of gloom, Jaiswal scored 101 in 159 balls with 16 fours and one six.
New captain Shubman Gill compiled an imperious 127 from 175 balls and vice-captain Rishabh Pant had a typically freewheeling 65 from 102 balls, both remaining unbeaten at close.
Gill also joined an illustrious list of Indians — Vijay Hazare, Sunil Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar and Virat Kohli — to embrace leadership duties with a statement century, heralding the start of an era. He was in a hurry to court history, scoring at a fast clip, almost getting on with the business of galloping to the greatness goal at a strike rate of 72-plus. He became the 33rd male cricketer to score a hundred on Test captaincy debut.
Jaiswal opens the innings like Rohit, and Shubman has taken Kohli’s No.4. At least on the first match day after the two big retirements, no one was missed by anyone as India finished at 359 for three. After the day’s play, coach Gautam Gambhir was smiling — he, too, grins only when the situation demands.
Considering that Indian openers in England rarely do well, and laying the foundation is of utmost importance, Jaiswal’s innings was unique and significant. It was an innings that had Kohli’s aggression and Sharma’s grace.
For the 23-year-old who made his Test debut just two years ago, it marked an incredible journey, from living in a tent at Mumbai’s Azad maidan with the ground staff to becoming a batsman with the talent, runs and the promise of filling the giant void left behind by the batting greats of Kohli and Rohit’s stature.
In these parts, they had heard about Jaiswal but never seen him live. When England toured India in 2023, Jaiswal scored two double hundreds. It was the series Kohli missed, but wasn’t missed. In England, his senior opening partner, Rohit, too wasn’t around but Jaiswal was confident, he was dismissive of the entire England bowling department.
There was no wistful looking back, there was overwhelming optimism about Indian cricket’s future. Jaiswal, like Virat and Rohit, was once again underlining the fact that he is India’s “day or night, red or white ball” all-format player.
Weeks after being among IPL’s leading run-getters, with 500-plus runs at an average of over 40, Jaiswal in whites was equally at home and eye-pleasing as well. It wasn’t that he was totally transformed, it was just that he made a few nuanced tweaks to his batting. His style had changed but the soul hadn’t.
Replaying his first three boundaries would help to understand. The first came in the first over of the day. It was all wrist, him guiding a dangerous looking Chris Woakes swinging ball past fourth slip for a four. The crowd and the English players let out their “ohs” and “ahs” — trying to convey that this was a streaky strike.
The next Jaiswal boundary came up in Woakes’s second over. This time, he didn’t guide, but pushed the ball with authority past mid-off. Another boundary. This time, no one dared to doubt the correctness of the shot. There was the usual light-regimented English applause from the stands.
His third boundary was against the new-ball bowler Brydon Carse, easily the sharpest in the first session. The tall 29-year-old banged the ball short outside off-stump. Jaiswal couldn’t stop his hands from reaching the ball. He cut it fiercely to the point boundary. This wasn’t good old classic batting but the modern method of making runs in Test matches by new-age all-format players.
Jaiswal went hysterical in the celebration of his first hundred in England, an inning that sent out a strong message to the world. (AP)
Even for the rest of the innings, he was cautious but not bottled up. Minor batting setbacks didn’t see him abandon his trusted batting approach. Once Woakes beat his outside edge with a peach of a ball that moved away. Next ball, Jaiswal came down the pitch to meet the ball, not allowing the bowler to settle in rhythm and stick to one line.
Carse once hit him in the ribs with a nasty short ball. It was the kind of blow that makes batsmen double up in pain and gasp for air. Jaiswal has too much pain in his life to get impacted by the bruise made by a hard ball. In the same over, he hit a perfect straight down the ground drive that would have won him many English fans. He hit a similar breathtaking drive soon, this in the over he survived a DRS appeal. He even attempted a ramp shot over the slip, though he missed that one. There was no stopping Jaiswal.
There were no nervous 90s for him, too. Jaiswal has faced enough anxious moments during his days of struggle, managing two square meals, to let numbers intimidate him or force him to lose focus. From 87 to 100 he moved in just one over — hitting three fours and a single off Carse.
And once that was done, Jaiswal’s so-far somber and serious face changed. The full house at Headingley got to see his emotional outpouring — the centurion jumped, pumped his fists and let out squeals of delight. Jaiswal was grinning as he hugged his captain.
Once that was done, he had a small silent moment for himself. He moved away from the pitch and put his head down and had his hands on the knees. Jaiswal once told The Indian Express that he talks to himself when he is alone. “Most of the time, I have stayed alone and I don’t take things easy,” he said.
The teenaged boy, living in an Azad Maidan tent, has spent many lonely nights watching the Wankhede lights lit the sky, and dreamt. He wants his dreams to come true and also those private little moments probably to pinch himself.
Captain Gill and Jaiswal smoked centuries on the first day of the India vs England Test series at Leeds. (AP) 
Jaiswal went hysterical in the celebration of his first hundred in England, an inning that sent out a strong message to the world. (AP)
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