IND v ENG 2024: “Above Sir Don Bradman at this point,” Aakash Chopra, Manjrekar laud Jaiswal’s special knock vs England in Vizag

Yashasvi Jaiswal took on the England bowlers in the first innings of the second Test,

By Salman Anjum - 03 Feb, 2024

Trailing 0-1 in the ongoing five-match series, India posted 336/6 by stumps on Day 1 of the second Test against England in Vizag on the back of Yashasvi Jaiswal’s stunning hundred.

The left-handed opener was the lone warrior with the bat, scoring 179 not out off 257 balls, which included 17 fours and five sixes.

It was also Jaiswal's second ton in the longest format of the game in what was his sixth Test match for India. The 22-year-old had also slammed a swashbuckling half-century (80) in the opening Test against England in Hyderabad.

Impressed with his consistency, former India cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra went on to say that Yashasvi Jaiswal is above the Australian legend Sir Don Bradman at this point in time.

"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," Chopra said while speaking on his YouTube channel.

"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," he added.

Meanwhile, former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar mentioned Jaiswal's approach against veteran England pacer James Anderson and said that it 'was an excellent sign.'

"It wasn't like Jimmy Anderson didn't bowl much, he bowled a lot. I don't think a single boundary was hit by Jaiswal against him. That is maturity. He realized this is a bowler who's not going to give him hittable balls," Manjrekar said while speaking to ESPNCricinfo.

"He is an attacking player, very much a modern-day product and an IPL star as well. But a lot of the shots today were not him trying to unsettle the bowler or trying to play Bazball. It was him punishing the loose balls and that was the most impressive thing about Jaiswal. This was not so much counter-attacking but more Jaiswal batting normally and then progressively starting to dominate. And that was an excellent sign," he further stated.

Former India spinner Pragyan Ojha was also left awestruck by Yashasvi Jaiswal’s shot selection.

Speaking on Colors, Ojha said, "He didn't get bogged down under pressure. Wickets were falling and he lost his senior partner in the form of Rohit Sharma. His partners also played and built partnerships, but the way he played, you remember only one shot where he lost his patience slightly against the off-spinner."

"Other than that, the mindset he showed and the flow with which he batted, he played on merit and showed today why he has such good numbers and why he has such a good conversion rate," he remarked.

On Day 2 of the second Test, Jaiswal notched up his maiden Test double century with a six and boundary off debutant English spinner Shoaib Bashir. It took him 277 deliveries to reach the milestone.

The southpaw was eventually dismissed by veteran England pacer James Anderson for 209 off 290 balls. His knock was studded with 19 fours and 7 sixes. With this innings, he also became the third youngest Indian to get a double hundred after Vinod Kambli and Sunil Gavaskar.

Thanks to his herculean effort, the hosts posted 396 in their first innings of the second Test against England.

By Salman Anjum - 03 Feb, 2024

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