Yashasvi Jaiswal has accomplished what no other cricket batter could ever do. Viv Richards, Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid. Jacques Kallis, Kumar Sangakkara, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers. No one. Batters from various generations, part of various teams but no one even got close to what Jaiswal accomplished. The India opener pounded his fifth Test ton in the series opener of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy at Headingley in Leeds on Friday.
Centuries in England and Australia on Debut for Yashasvi Jaiswal
This was Jaiswal’s fifth overall Test century, third against England and his first in England on his first try. Along the way, Jaiswal achieved the distinction of being the first visiting batsman ever to score centuries on his debut Test in England as well as Australia.
Indian cricketer Suryakumar Yadav, 23 years old, had scored 161 in his initial Test in Australia (Perth) in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. On Friday, he scored his first-ever Test century in England in his maiden try.
Significantly, Tendulkar scored a century on his first Test tours of England and Australia, but not in his initial Test there. Tendulkar scored his first century in England in his second Test (Manchester) and his first in Australia in his third try in Adelaide.
Yashasvi Jaiswal Reaching the Milestone with Flair
Following a couple of successive fours against Brydon Carse in the 49th over, Jaiswal reached his milestone on the final ball with a single. He did not try to conceal his joy. He jumped, screamed and screamed again to inform the capacity crowd as well as the viewers all over the world that he has now achieved centuries in Australia, the West Indies and England.
Jaiswal, who made a century against West Indies in his Test debut, compiled over 700 runs in the England series at home last year and the left-hander carried his rich run of form against the Three Lions even in their own den.
Jaiswal’s century had come at a time when there were genuine worries about how India’s new-generation batting lineup was going to fare under foreign conditions following the retirements of the legends Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
Partnership Power with KL Rahul and Shubman Gill
Jaiswal started with authority in the morning session, teaming up with KL Rahul to present India with a good platform after Ben Stokes opted to bowl first. The duo took advantage of a poor England pace attack, creaming anything overpitched or heading down the pads. Their 91-run first-wicket stand set the tone before Rahul, who was on 42, edged Brydon Carse to Joe Root at slip, and debutant Sai Sudharsan got out for a duck soon after.
But Jaiswal rallied quickly and had a capable partner in new skipper Shubman Gill. They stitched together an unbeaten 123-run stand by tea, taking India to 215-2. Gill, eager and stylish, hit a quickest fifty in Tests worth 58* with big drives and pulls that complemented measured Jaiswal’s stroke-play.
Controlled Aggression and Discipline
Jaiswal displayed better discipline, particularly against deliveries in the channel outside off, where he had difficulty in the preceding matches. His century was off 144 balls and contained 16 boundaries, and had moments of sheer timing as well as resolute defence. He did get a bit crampy towards the end of the session occasionally but kept a cool head, getting his hundred with a neat single after consecutive boundaries from Carse.
The highly-rated left-arm bowler was bowled clean for 101 soon after Tea as England skipper Ben Stokes delivered a gem of a ball to beat his bat.
