Yashasvi Jaiswal put on a show with the bat on Day 1 of the second Test against England in Visakhapatnam on Friday (February 2).

Opening the innings, the southpaw produced an unbeaten knock of 179, propelling the hosts to 336/6 in the opening day’s play.

It was Jaiswal’s second century in his sixth Test match for India. His knock was studded with 17 fours and 5 sixes, and it drew rich praise from former England skipper Sir Alastair Cook.

According to Cook, Jaiswal’s brilliance hid India’s “fragile” battling line-up as no other managed to hit a half-century.

“He has been absolutely outstanding,” Cook told TNT Sports. “170-odd not out, the rest of the Indian team were 158-6 on a pretty good day.

“If you take him out of it, not that you should or you could take him out of the side, actually the Indian fragile batting line-up is still there. It’s just been hidden by a quite superb innings.

“When his side really needed it, he has delivered an innings of a guy that looks young, but bats with a maturity and skill of more than a 22-year-old.”

Reflecting on the day’s play, Cook opined that India did not take advantage of the perfect batting conditions in Visakhapatnam.

The visitors snatched a couple of late wickets as Akshar Patel and KS Bharat were dismissed by Shoaib Bashir and Rehan Ahmed, respectively

“At this stage [during the afternoon session] India were in a really strong position,” Cook stated. “170-2 and the danger of a massive score on a flat wicket was looming for England. India batted with great control today and at 225-3 were ahead of the game.”

The former England skipper said India might regret that they missed an opportunity to rack up a mammoth score in the first innings.

“I think India will be disappointed that they’ve missed an opportunity. They still might get 500, Ravi Shastri said this was a 500 wicket in the first innings to set the game up. If they do, Jaiswal will be getting 250 tomorrow which is the threat for England. It’s lots of starts and not enough quality in the execution of shots which caused their downfall,” he remarked.