India’s star opener, Yashasvi Jaiswal, produced a fiery display with the bat during Day 3 of the third Test against England in Rajkot. Despite a slow start, Jaiswal picked pace as he approached his half-century, reaching the mark in 80 balls, and then took only 42 more deliveries to reach his century.
Jaiswal’s knock powered India in the final session of Day 3 as the side held a commanding 322-run lead over the visitors. The left-handed opener is a naturally aggressive batter and has showcased his attacking prowess on many occasions in his short Test career. In only his second Test, Jaiswal scored at a strike rate of 77 as he smashed a valuable 57 against West Indies; earlier this year, on a difficult pitch in Cape Town, the 22-year-old played a fiery cameo of 28 off 25 balls that gave India a quick start in the run-chase.
Even during the Test series against England, Jaiswal smashed 80 off 96 balls in the first innings of the Hyderabad Test and maintained a 70+ strike rate during the double-century knock in Visakhapatnam.
Following Jaiswal’s knock on Saturday, England cricketer Ben Duckett commended the Indian batter for his aggressive approach but boldly claimed that England’s revamped cricketing philosophy promoted a more attacking style of play among players.
England’s ‘Bazball’ approach has reaped the rewards from them ever since the duo of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum came together roughly two years ago.
Duckett believed that without England’s ‘Bazball’ strategies implemented by Test coach McCullum, Jaiswal, along with players globally, might not have been as emboldened to adopt an aggressive playing style.
“When you see players from the opposition playing like that, it almost feels like we should take some credit that they’re playing differently than how other people play Test cricket,” Duckett said.
“We saw it a bit in the summer and it’s quite exciting to see other players and other teams are also playing that aggressive style of cricket,” said the Englishman, who also scored a century in the first innings of the Rajkot Test.
While England have certainly revolutionised their gameplay with aggressive tactics, it may be too far-fetched to say they have inspired attacking approach on other sides. Many batters in the past, including India’s Virender Sehwag, have been naturally aggressive in Test cricket; in fact, Sehwag is considered by many to be one of the pioneers in aggressive strokeplay in the longest format.
Regardless, Jaiswal’s knock has put India in command ahead of Day 4 of the Test; the left-handed opener’s innings was cut short due to back spasms, as he was retired hurt soon after reaching the century. India will hope that Jaiswal recovers and returns to the crease to continue the side’s charge.
