Follow UsThere’s little debate that Yashasvi Jaiswal should be opening for India in all three formats. Yet despite his talent, the Mumbai left-hander hasn’t found a way into the ODI and T20I line-ups - and through no fault of his own. If anything, he might be the unluckiest batter in India’s white-ball ecosystem. But in Test cricket, Jaiswal has already established himself as one of the best openers in the world.
He underlined that status yet again on October 10 (Friday), when he slammed his seventh Test hundred in the second Test against West Indies at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. Before turning 24, only Don Bradman (12), Sachin Tendulkar (11), and Garfield Sobers (9) have scored more centuries than him.
Jaiswal, 23, began cautiously after captain Shubman Gill won the toss and chose to bat. He took his time to settle against the West Indian attack, but once set, he shifted gears and dominated in trademark fashion. He reached three figures off 145 deliveries and made up for his missed start in the first Test in Ahmedabad, where he fell for 36 off 54.
With this knock, he joined Javed Miandad, Graeme Smith, Alastair Cook, and Kane Williamson as the only batters with seven Test centuries before turning 24.
Since his debut in 2022, no opener in world cricket has scored more hundreds than Jaiswal. England’s Ben Duckett sits next with four. In fact, all other Indian openers combined have only six Test centuries in this period.
This is also the second time, the first being in 2024, that Jaiswal has scored at least three Test hundreds in a calendar year. Among Indian openers, only Sunil Gavaskar (seven times), Virender Sehwag (three), and Gautam Gambhir (two) have achieved that feat multiple times.
So far, Jaiswal has seven centuries, 12 fifties and is averaging close to 50 in Test cricket.