The roar said everything. Yashasvi Jaiswal really wanted this. There is an insatiable hunger for runs in Jaiswal, and it could only be quenched with a century in his first Test in England. Just like he had scored a century in his first Test in the West Indies, and then in Australia. He got only 80 in his first Test in India, and as if to compensate, hit 209 in his second.
Jaiswal is in the middle of only his 20th Test, and he’s already got 1899 runs. If desire translated into actual runs on the field though, he might have had twice as many. Because Jaiswal loves nothing more than scoring runs.
“Whenever I go in and make centuries, I love it,” he would say after the first day’s play at Headingley. He was out for 101, with cramps in both hands hampering his progress in the later stages of his innings. But during the course of his stay, he had driven India to a safe position.
His captain Shubman Gill would turn that into a great position with his own century. Gill was more imperious, but Jaiswal had to negotiate the morning, when the pitch was at its most helpful, the ball was new and the bowlers were at their most fresh.
Testing early phase
England’s bowlers didn’t hit the sort of hard lengths and nibbling off-stump lines that the Indian batters had faced in Australia earlier this year, which made the going easier. However, right at the start of India’s innings, there was some movement on offer. Where Jaiswal – and his opening partner KL Rahul – did well was in their mix of discipline and ruthlessness.
When the bowlers got it right, the batters reined in their strokeplay. But any errors were punished. Jaiswal was particularly ruthless through the offside. Fuller balls were driven with class, and he often threw the kitchen sink at shorter balls, trying to cut them. He failed to connect several such shots, but because he was going full-blooded at them, even if he had edged one there was a good chance it would fall safely, or even go to the boundary. When he did connect one, he sent it for six.
When Rahul fell and Sai Sudharsan followed for a debut duck, Jaiswal and Gill got together for the innings’ most decisive stand. The two quick wickets had dented India’s early gains. If England could force through that opening, India would be in a world of trouble. But there was no forcing through the Gill-Jaiswal combine.
The Yashasvi Jaiswal focus
Jaiswal went from 50 to 100 in just 48 balls. He had toughed it out when he needed to, and got runs where available. Then, with the bowlers also flagging, and his arm cramps beginning to bother him, he just upped a gear. He explained it away as playing the ball on merit, and facing challenges.
“If we got a bad ball, we wanted to time it well and place it well,” Jaiswal said at the end of the day’s play. “Challenges are there, and will always remain in cricket. They will remain at every stage. I just kept belief in my game and myself, and expressed myself.
“I was thinking of how I’ll play in this situation – where are they bowling, what is their field. And what my team needs.” That sort of focussed approach has been the cornerstone of Jaiswal’s batting through the years. He had made quick progress through the ranks in age-group cricket, and then to the state team, Mumbai. He then made the transition to playing for India seem like a logical next step too. But behind the runs has been the desire, always.
For example, he found the going tough in the IPL immediately after a Player of the Tournament run in the Under-19 World Cup. The step up in level, pressure and expectations is difficult for seasoned pros, let alone a teenager. But he went away and worked on his game, expanded his range of shots, added muscle for power, and is now among the premier bats in the league.
His Test match credentials are already solid, and continue to grow. Sooner rather than later, he will surely get the extended long run he has earned in ODIs too. And across all of that, Jaiswal will strive to excel, because he’s driven by a supreme hunger for runs.