“…kept giving me confidence”: Jaiswal after scoring 179* on Day 1 against England

Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) [India]: Yashasvi Jaiswal who overwhelmed England bowlers with his 179* decoded his approach and revealed that skipper Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid backed him to convert his knock into a big one. 

Jaiswal’s blitz on the opening day of the second Test helped India humble England’s young spin trio at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium on Friday. 

The Vizag continued to witness Jaiswal’s prowess with the bat and his maturity to hold on to his end and keep the scoreboard ticking. Throughout the day, the young batter found the boundary line 17 times and tonked five maximums. 

After stumps were called, Jaiswal opened up about his approach of tackling one session at a time which allowed him to cruise through the 93 overs that were bowled on the opening day. 

“I wanted to play it session by session. When they were bowling well, I just wanted to get through that spell. Initially, the wicket was damp and there was spin and bounce, with a bit of seam. However, I wanted to convert the loose balls and play till the end. I would love to double this up and play till the end for the team,” Jaiswal said after the end of Day 1. 

Jaiswal’s knock was a perfect blend of attack and defence. The young left-handed batter adjusted his style of play according to the changing pitch conditions. 

The 179* that he managed to put up on the opening day came down to his approach as well as the confidence that Rohit and Dravid gave him while he was out on the crease. 

“I want to recover well for tomorrow now. The pitch played a bit differently, in the morning it was a bit damp and then it settled. With the older ball, there was some bounce. Rahul sir and Rohit bhai kept giving me the confidence and told me to convert this into a big innings and stay till the end,” Jaiswal added. 

At the end of Day 1, India managed to put up 336/6 on the board with Jaiswal and Ravichandran Ashwin unbeaten on scores of 179* and 5* respectively.