TimesofIndia.com in Leeds: A comfortable single to reach the three-figure mark, the arms went up and the helmet came off before the leap of faith. Punches in the air followed as Yashasvi Jaiswal celebrated the hundred in his maiden Test innings on English soil. There was relief, there was happiness and for those few moments, the pain disappeared as he celebrated with his captain Shubman Gill. Not long before reaching the milestone, the left-hander received multiple treatments on his right forearm, potentially because of cramps and looked in severe pain while navigating the 90s.Except it wasn’t ‘nervous’ 90s by any stretch. Physical ailments, visit by the physio was followed by twin boundaries and confident punch to bring up the ton.The forearm, however, was the only thing which slightly troubled him during his first taste of Test cricket in England as the hosts’ bowlers found it tough to keep the opener quiet on the opening day of the Leeds Test. The pitch was on the flatter side, the outfield was lightning quick and the left-hander played with a lot of application to first see off the new Duke, and then capitaised whenever width was on offer. Though, ‘capitalise’ isn’t probably the right word to use as he was lethal whenever the bowlers gave him room. The slashes and the cuts didn’t stop, and even Ben Stokes’ out-of-the-box field placements – leg-gully, two men in catching position for the cut/slash, a deep third and deep fine for the ramp – didn’t affect the way he operated.
There was a lot of clarity and a similar dose of audacity in how he went about doing business on the opening day of the long summer. The scoring pattern validated his means and ways as 70 out of his 100 runs came in boundaries – 16 fours and a six. England’s desperation to try too many things in little time further helped his cause as there were a lot of boundary balls on offer, and Stokes’ fielding placements made the job easier. Off-side remained his dominant scoring area as only nine out of his first hundred runs were scored towards the leg-side. The hundred runs which made him only the first Indian, and fifth overall, to score a century in their first Tests in England and Australia. If the century in Perth was an announcement of his arrival away from home, the Headingley knock was a reminder of his class against an opposition he has enjoyed a lot of success against. When he gets in, he makes the opposition pay and his four hundreds – 161, 214*, 209 and 171 – in the format and more in the First-Class circuit have been big, and rarely has he thrown his wicket after getting his eye in.Even with the pain in the forearm and without the elbowguard – which he had to let go off when in the 90s – there was very little doubt this knock will not follow the Jaiswal template.
The eye was set, pitch wasn’t doing any tricks and the opposition was clearly running short on ideas to keep the southpaw quiet. A moment of brilliance was the need of the hour and it was Stokes who took matters in his own hands.
A 52.2 overs old delivery in his hand, the England captain, from around the wicket, used the angle and away movement off the pitch to his advantage and hit the top of off-stump to send the centurion back to the hut. Jaiswal dragged himself out of the park to a rapturous applause from the capacity crowd and was greeted by a warm hug from Rishabh Pant near the ropes before the wicketkeeper-batter went out to bat.On the opening day, Jaiswal stamped authority, class, and even with a troubled forearm, he managed to throw the right punches to keep the opposition in the far corner for the majority of the day.
