Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill slammed stunning hundreds on Day 1 of the Headingley Test.
Asked to bat first, the southpaw got the visitors off to a fabulous start, adding 91 runs for the opening wicket with KL Rahul (42).
Jaiswal mixed caution with aggression in the first session to remain unbeaten on 41. He put a pedal on the accelerator in the second session to notch up his three-figure mark.
Jaiswal was eventually dismissed by Ben Stokes for 101 off 159 balls, which included 16 boundaries and 1 six. During his knock, the left-hander stitched a 129-run stand with skipper Shubman Gill, who remained unbeaten on 127* to propel India to 359/3 at stumps.
After the close of play, Jaiswal gave a slice of credit to Gill for maintaining a calm atmosphere at the other end during their partnership.
"Whenever I make a century, wherever it is, I enjoy it. I love it as all my centuries are special. But of course, there are some special moments...first (century in England)," Jaiswal said in the post-day press meet.
"We were speaking a lot in the middle and we were trying to take it session by session and try and get as many runs as possible.
"There was an amazing camaraderie between us. It was amazing to bat with him (Gill) and the way he batted, calm and composed, I enjoyed it a lot and it was helping me," he added.
The ton on Friday (June 20) was Jaiswal’s third in overseas tours after registering centuries in the West Indies and Australia earlier.
Sharing his strategy during this hundred, the 23-year-old said, "The strategy was to put away the bad balls, time and place the shots well. I was just thinking about handling the situation, where the England team was keeping fielders or in which areas they were bowling. I was just trying to bat accordingly. I was batting as per the needs of the team."
Just like his teammates, Yashasvi Jaiswal came into the Leeds Test without too much practice in red-ball cricket because of the two-month long IPL season.
Talking about switching the formats mentally, Jaiswal remarked, "Challenges will always be there in cricket, just that it will be different in different stages. I was trying to trust my process and mindset and was trying to express myself.”
"To switch mentally is very important as in how you think or in which environment you are in. It helps you to enjoy the game when you are playing under pressure," he stated.
However, Jaiswal acknowledged that the practice games for India A against the England Lions and the intra-squad match against the senior side was helpful.
"I was getting cramps on both hands. Our preparations were good while playing for India A and at Beckenham (intra-squad). We were discussing about playing a long innings after getting a start.
"We got a lot of inputs from Gautam sir. So, it was nice to come to such a nice ground and perform," he added.
(With PTI Inputs)