Yashasvi Jaiswal enjoyed his finest day on a cricket pitch with an unconquered debut hundred as India seized complete control on the second day of the opening Test against the West Indies (AP Image)
The young upstart Yashasvi Jaiswal could very well be on course for a world record on Day 3 of the 1st Test between West Indies and India.
It was not long ago that Yashasvi Jaiswal smacked a 13-ball fifty in the IPL 2023, setting the record for the fastest 50 in terms of balls faced in the league, and roughly two months after that short, but whirlwind knock, the young upstart has achieved a record at the opposite end of the spectrum.
On his Test debut against the West Indies, Jaiswal became the 17th Indian player to reach the triple-figure mark in his debut innings and along with it made the unique record of facing the maximum number of deliveries for an Indian debutant in Tests.
Jaiswal is currently batting on 143 off 350 deliveries with the help of 14 boundaries and seems to be in for the long haul. Jaiswal surpassed the record of former Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin, who had faced 322 deliveries for his 110 against England at the Eden Gardens way back in 1984.
In recent times, the only other Indian batter to have faced 300 plus deliveries on Test debut was the current Indian skipper Rohit Sharma who faced 301 deliveries for his 177 against the West Indies at the Eden Gardens in 2013.
While Shikhar Dhawan currently holds the record for the highest score for an Indian debutant in Tests with 187, his marauding innings against Australia in Mohali came at a breakneck speed as he faced only 174 deliveries during his knock.
Jaiswal though isn’t new to batting long in the middle. In the 2022-23 Duleep Trophy quarterfinal, the left-hander had faced 321 deliveries scoring 228 while in the final against South Zone setup up the game for West Zone with a solid 265 off 323 balls in the second innings.
In 2016-17 Vijay Merchant Trophy West Zone match, playing for Mumbai U-16, Jasiwal had stayed in the middle for 374 deliveries scoring 203. In 2021-22 Ranji Trophy semi-final against Uttar Pradesh, after scoring 227-ball 100 in the first innings, Jaiswal followed it up with an even better 181 off 372 balls in the second innings helping Mumbai reach the finals.
Clearly, Jaiswal has a penchant to make his starts count and by the looks of it at Dominica, Jaiswal may very well be set for a daddy hundred. But, the first order of business on Day 3 for him will be to surpass Dhawan’s tally of 187 – the highest score on Test debut for an Indian and then probably eye the 200-run mark.
Only seven players have managed to achieve the feat of scoring a double hundred on debut with Reginald Foster holding the record of highest ever score on debut – 287 – made in 1903. The most recent double hundred on debut was in 2021 when West Indian Kyle Mayers made 201* against Bangladesh and Devon Conway scored 200 against England at Lord’s.