It has been quite an impressive start to his Test career for Yashasvi Jaiswal, with four centuries already under his belt. Stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah, though, singles out the 161 against Australia in Perth as his finest inning till now. This was not only an important performance in terms of runs scored but also in how Jaiswal quickly realized that curbing the natural aggression, so vital in the testing conditions Down Under, is essential at a venue like Perth that seams and bounces more often than others.
Coming back strongly after a duck in his first innings of the Australian tour, Jaiswal slammed 15 fours and three sixes off 297 balls to help India win the series opener by a big 295-run margin. “That was the best innings of his Test career so far. He left the ball very well. Obviously, he likes to attack but he has left a lot of balls also,” Bumrah said in the post-match conference.
This was a fourth Test hundred for Jaiswal, including two double hundreds. The other centurion for India in the second innings was Virat Kohli, who came into form after struggling in the lead-up to the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with an unbeaten 100. Bumrah backed Kohli to come good all the time. “I didn’t see Virat out of form. It’s difficult to judge that on tough pitches, but he was good in the nets.”
Despite being bowled out for just 150 in the first innings, India’s impressive comeback showed the character of the team. Bumrah highlighted that self-belief plays an important role in achieving success under pressure. “We were put under pressure in the first innings, but the way we responded was great,” he said.
Australian captain Pat Cummins felt that their lack of scoring in the first innings hurt them quite a bit. “It was fairly disappointing. The preparation was good, and we were all firing, but we didn’t give ourselves a chance in a few different areas, particularly with the bat on day one,” he reflected.
Cummins is optimistic that his experienced players will work their way into the series. “There’s a lot of experience in the side, and we’ll have plenty of discussions on what we can improve in similar conditions,” he said, looking forward to the second Test starting in Adelaide on December 6.
