Yashasvi Jaiswal starred with the bat in India’s victory by an innings and 141 runs over West Indies in the first Test at Windsor Park, Dominica.
On his debut Test, the southpaw slammed 171 off 387 balls and added 229 runs for the opening wicket with skipper Rohit Sharma, who scored 103.
The 21-year-old was also involved in a 110-run partnership with Virat Kohli (76), propelling the visitors to a massive 421/5 (declared) in reply to West Indies’ total of 150.
Speaking after India’s win on Friday (July 14), captain Rohit hailed Yashasvi Jaiswal for his temperament and patience.
“He’s got the talent. We knew about it. He’s shown us in the past couple of years that he’s ready for this big stage. Came and batted sensibly, showed a lot of patience, and the temperament was tested as well – at no stage [did it look] like he was panicking or going away from his plans, which was good to see,” Rohit said at the post-match presentation.
He added, “In the middle, it was just about having a chat, letting him know, ‘You belong here.’ That is the most important thing, because when you’re playing your first Test match, you kind of keep asking yourself whether you belong here or not, but my job from the other side was to just keep telling him, ‘You’ve done all the hard yards, it’s just about enjoying your time in the middle. Don’t worry about the results, just enjoy your time, and if you do that the results will flow.'”
For India, veteran off-spinner R Ashwin finished the match with 12 scalps, including a seven-wicket haul to bundle out the Caribbean team for a paltry 130 in the second innings.
On the other hand, left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja returned with five wickets across the two West Indies innings.
Lauding the spin-bowling duo, Rohit said: “The results speak for themselves. Both of these guys have been doing it for a while for us now. They know exactly what is expected out of them. There’s not much to tell them [about] what we need to do. It’s just about going to them and giving them that freedom to go and express, because that is when they’re doing their best for the side as well."
“When you have the kind of experience that these guys have, bowling on pitches like this, it’s always a luxury, but yeah, you’ve got to come out and pitch it in the area that you want, and get the pitch to do the rest. Both Ashwin and Jadeja were magnificent in the game, especially Ashwin. To come out and bowl like that shows his class.”
The Dominica Test marked the beginning of India’s campaign in the World Test Championship 2023-25 cycle, and Rohit was elated to get off the mark in an emphatic fashion.
“Always nice to start well, it is a fresh cycle. We weren’t too worried about the pitch, we wanted to come here and get results.
“Important to start well, now about taking that momentum into the second Test. There are a couple of new guys and people who haven’t had much Test cricket, so just about getting them out on the field now.”
The second Test is slated to get underway on July 20 at Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain.
