Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul put India in a commanding position with their disciplined batting display on Day 2 of the first Test against Australia at the Optus Stadium, Perth.
Riding on Jasprit Bumrah’s five-wicket haul (5-30), the visitors bundled out the Aussies for a paltry 104 to secure a handy first-innings lead of 46 runs.
In the second innings, Jaiswal and Rahul made a strong start. The opening pair batted cautiously against the new ball and punished the opposition bowlers after getting set. Their approach didn’t only put India in the driver’s seat but also tired out the Australian attack.
Jaiswal ended the second day on 90* off 193 balls while Rahul remained unbeaten on 62 off 153 balls as the tourists reached 172/0 at stumps, stretching their lead to 218 runs.
After the day’s play, India's assistant coach Abhishek Nayar explained what prompted India's turnaround after being bowled out for 150 in the first innings.
"I think in the first innings there was a lot more assistance for the fast bowlers and I also felt with Yashasvi playing his first game in Australia, getting a bit of feedback, had a few conversations after the first innings, try to evaluate and work around our gameplan and I felt in the second innings we left a lot more balls and we were a lot more prepared to play a longer innings," Nayar told 7Cricket.
On being asked how stand-in skipper Jasprit Bumrah motivated the Indian players after a dismal batting display in the first essay, Nayar replied: "Well I think when the team is always in trouble it's the leadership group that always comes in, Gauti bhai (Gautam Gambhir), Bumrah, I think the talk was all about the belief. When we played at the WACA, we had a great preparation camp and we realized that if you can hit the right areas in Australia, specially in Perth, you can get assistance and we knew with the kind of attack we had, if we got early wickets, things could happen, captain stepped up, picked up those 3 wickets, got the momentum going, sometimes you just need the rub of the green and I thought we had it our way."
The assistant coach also expressed confidence about regular captain Rohit Sharma joining the Indian squad in Perth.
"We're very hopeful that he'll be here soon, he'll start his preparations and hope to see him soon," Nayar remarked.
Resuming from an overnight score of 90* off 193 balls, Yashasvi Jaiswal did not waste much time to bring up his three-figure mark in the first session on Day 3. The southpaw reached the landmark with an audacious upper cut for six over third-man region off Josh Hazlewood.
After falling for a duck in the first innings to Mitchell Starc, Jaiswal bounced back strongly in the second dig to notch up his maiden Test ton Down Under in his first appearance on Australian soil.
On the way to his hundred, Jaiswal added 201 runs for the opening wicket with KL Rahul, who was dismissed for 77 off 176 balls.
