Ravichandran Ashwin praised young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal for his sparkling half-century on Day One of the ongoing first Test against England at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday.
Jaiswal showed aggressive intent from the outset, hitting a boundary off the first ball bowled by Mark Wood and following it up with a six off the debutant Tom Hartley’s maiden Test delivery. By the end of the day’s play, the left-handed batter had raced to 76 not out off 70 balls, including nine fours and three sixes.
Ashwin commended Jaiswal’s seamless transition to Test cricket, highlighting his carefree approach and likening his batting style to that of Rishabh Pant. He praised Jaiswal’s wide range of shots and fearless mindset, noting that the young opener had excelled in the IPL and made a strong start to his first-class career.
“He (Jaiswal) had a great time in the IPL, had a wonderful start to his first-class cricket. He is literally not put a foot wrong. He has walked into Test cricket, he has taken it like a fish to water,” Ashwin told the host broadcaster.
The senior off-spinner added: “His carefree approach is enabling him to play some wonderful shots. I am quite enjoying it. I get a feeling sometimes when he is batting, I am seeing Rishabh Pant there. Both of them bat similarly to left-arm spinners. Jaiswal has got a lot of shots, his range is pretty wide and the fearless approach at the moment is serving him really well.”
The Indian openers, Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma (24), provided a solid start with an 80-run partnership, earning praise from Ashwin. He emphasised the need for one of the batters to convert his start to a century.
“The start given to us by Jaiswal and Rohit made us breathe a little easier. Need someone to go on and score a hundred,” he said.
Ashwin also discussed the pitch conditions. He admitted that India might have conceded 30 to 40 runs more than they desired.
“Thought it was pretty interesting [the pitch], maybe a bit of moisture early on. Then I thought it just slowed down. Got to mix your pace up. [England score] We thought 240 was competitive, 30-40 more than we liked,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ben Duckett, who scored 35 in the first innings, asserted that there was never a consideration of Tom Hartley “hiding away” after his first ball in Test cricket was struck for six, and the England team fully supported the debutant.
After getting bundled out for 246, the touring team chose to have their debutant open the bowling. Unfortunately, the start wasn’t ideal for the tall spinner from Lancashire, as he conceded a flurry of boundaries in his very first over. Nevertheless, Stokes kept faith in him, but Hartley finished the day with figures of 0/63 from his nine overs.
“We all back Tommy,” the England opener told talkSPORT. “You know what Stokesy is like, he will throw him the ball and back him all day.”
Duckett further said: “He gives him however many overs to bowl, where other captains might take you off after two overs and then you are hiding away for the rest of the game. That’s Stokesy; he keeps bowling him and Tom nearly gets Shubman at the end. I’m not quite sure how that is going over the stumps, but he came back really well.”
Reflecting on Stokes’s innings, Duckett praised the captain for his fantastic contribution, suggesting that it could be a match-winning knock if the pitch becomes more challenging to bat on in the later stages of the game.
“Stokesy, to get us to where we are, was fantastic. Come Day Three, Day Four, that could be a match-winning knock if the pitch keeps getting harder to bat on,” he said.
India only lost one wicket before the close of play at 119/1, with Jaiswal and Gill at the crease. They trail by 127 runs and still have nine wickets in hand. Duckett credited the Indian batters for the way they played the 23 overs on the opening day and highlighted that their strategy indicated an expectation of the pitch deteriorating.
“Pay credit to India, they played well tonight and were really attacking. They don’t always go about it like that, so it shows they think the pitch is going to get quite a bit worse. That’s good signs for us,” Duckett signed off.