Aakash Chopra has praised Yashasvi Jaiswal for scoring a century in India’s first innings of the second Test against England. He commended the youngster’s hunger to convert his starts into substantial knocks. Yashasvi Jaiswal took calculative risks and at the same time, he was quite fearless in his approach throughout his gigantic knock.
Jaiswal showcased his talent with a brilliant unbeaten knock of 179 off 257 deliveries on the first day in Visakhapatnam, guiding India to 336/6 by the end of the day. He has Ravichandran Ashwin as his batting partner and aims to achieve his maiden Test double century on the second day.
Yashasvi Jaiswal gave a lot of respect to James Anderson’s bowling- Aakash Chopra
In a video posted on his YouTube channel, Chopra emphasized that Jaiswal’s innings was a testament to his knack for converting fifties into centuries. Chopra explained,
“The most fantastic performance came from Yashasvi Jaiswal’s bat. How well the kid batted. Jimmy Anderson was the only pacer and he kept leaving his deliveries. He gave a lot of respect to James Anderson’s bowling.”
“When spin came, he hit two fours in the first over. After that, he showed why this player is so special. His conversion rate of fifties into hundreds for players who have 10 or more centuries in first-class cricket, he is even above Sir Don Bradman at this point in time,” the former India opener added.
Jaiswal boasts the highest conversion rate among players with at least 10 first-class centuries, standing at an impressive 73.33%. In 21 first-class matches, which includes the ongoing second Test against England, he has accumulated 2435 runs at a remarkable average of 76.09, featuring 11 centuries and four half-centuries.
Yashasvi Jaiswal on one side and the rest of the Indian team on the other– Sanjay Manjrekar
Aakash Chopra highlighted that Yashasvi Jaiswal emerged as the savior for India on the first day of play. He explained,
“Yashasvi is living up to his name. He shows every time that he is absolutely stellar. He is standing alone on 179 because the second-highest is not even 40. So Yashasvi Jaiswal on one side and the rest of the Indian team on the other,”
The former cricketer turned commentator added that the young batsman delivered a masterclass on facing spin on a pitch that offered true bounce. He expressed,
“He showed how you need to play spin on a surface that is playing like a true Indian surface. It is not a bad pitch, there isn’t too much help for spin, on Day 1 of course. He smothered the full deliveries and hit them hard. He didn’t have any hesitation to hit in the air and reached his century with a six.”
Chopra concluded by expressing that Jaiswal’s stellar performance somewhat concealed the vulnerabilities in the Indian batting lineup. He noted that the relatively inexperienced player held the innings together, contrasting with the struggles of more seasoned players like Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and Shreyas Iyer.