At Edgbaston on Friday, the red-ball rise of 23-year-old Yashasvi Jaiswal continued as he became the joint-fastest Indian to reach 2,000 Test runs. He achieved the milestone in his 40th innings, equalling the record held by Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag.
Yashasvi Jaiswal Follows in Tendulkar’s Footsteps
Jaiswal mentioned the milestone when he scored his 10th run for India’s second innings on Day 3 of the second Test against England. He was also the second-youngest Indian to achieve the feat at 23 years and 188 days old – Sachin Tendulkar at 20 years, 330 days remains the only younger player to have achieved this.
The milestone arrived on the heels of another elegant knock. In the first innings, Jaiswal had scored a mature 87, displaying maturity beyond his years. He rode out the initial movement, stitched together important partnerships – 72 with Karun Nair and 54 with Shubman Gill and played with thought-out aggression before becoming the victim of Ben Stokes.
Fewest innings to 2,000 Test runs (India)
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40 innings – Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Yashasvi Jaiswal
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43 innings – Vijay Hazare, Gautam Gambhir
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44 innings – Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar
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45 innings – Sourav Ganguly
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46 innings – Cheteshwar Pujara
Yashasvi Jaiswal Crosses 4,000 First-Class Runs
Jaiswal also went past 4,000 first-class runs in the knock, achieving the milestone in his 40th match at a rate of almost 59. His First-Class score consists of 14 tons and 14 half-centuries – a testimony to his desire for big scores.
Since his Test debut in 2023 with a scintillating 171 in Roseau, the left-handed batsman has blossomed into one of India’s most dependable hitters. He was India’s top performer in the home series against England at the start of the year, making 712 runs at 89.00 – the second-highest by an Indian in a bilateral Test series.
Siraj and Akash Deep Rock England Despite Record Stand
While that was on, Mohammed Siraj gave 6 for 70, and Akash Deep impressed with 4 for 88, as India dismissed England for 407 in their first innings – leading by 180 runs. England had threatened to reduce the deficit with a record 303-run partnership between Harry Brook (158) and Jamie Smith (184 not out), but early blows by Siraj – including the ones of Joe Root (22) and Ben Stokes (0) – dented England’s top order. Akash Deep snapped the key partnership later by removing Brook in the post-tea session.
With Jaiswal continuing to churn out milestones and pace attack functioning under pressure, India will carry a lot of positives to the last two days at Edgbaston.
