Former India player Irfan Pathan has praised India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal for scoring an ‘outstanding’ century in the first Test against England. He also stated that his celebration after reaching his hundred showed the significance of the milestone as well. However, Jaiswal scored 101 runs off 159 deliveries on Day 1 of the first Test against
England in Leeds on Friday, June 20.

During a discussion on Sony Sports, Pathan said, “Outstanding batting. He made a statement on the first ball by defending. It was the first ball of the series from Chris Woakes, and he took his foot forward and defended. His game plan was to play balls outside the off stump and on the stumps with great control. Whether the ball was full or he had to play on the up, the aggressive approach we saw against bad balls from this young Yashasvi Jaiswal’s bat was praiseworthy. The celebration shows how significant it was for him to score a century on the England tour as a youngster.”

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“He is 23 years old, and he has scored a hundred on his Test debut, and hundreds in his first match in Australia and England. He scored nearly 72% runs square on the off side. He scored hardly any runs on the leg side. The wagon wheel clearly shows what his plan was. Absolutely brilliant batting by an Indian batter in these alien conditions,” he further added.

In the same discussion, former India player Ajay Jadeja also said that Yashasvi Jaiswal virtually cut England into pieces with his cut shots as well. He also praised Jaiswal for playing a measured knock as well.

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“Whoever doesn’t cut, doesn’t score runs in England. If you look at it over the years, whoever plays the cut shot, their chances of scoring runs in England always increase. However, the drives he played before those cut shots. When he was on fifty, 22 or 23 percent runs were between mid-off and the bowler. He drove and cut well, and he showed solidity today. Jaiswal’s habit is to play attacking, even in the air, but we didn’t see all of that. He showed everything that is required in England,” Ajay Jadeja concluded.