Yashasvi Jaiswal on Sunday emerged as the unofficial flag-bearer of Indian batting for the next decade and a half as India's lead swelled to a commanding 405 at tea, despite the fall of a few wickets on the third day of the opening Test against Australia.
At tea, India were 359 for 5 in their second innings.
A little over a month shy of his 23rd birthday, Jaiswal, who has already announced his arrival on the big stage, notched up a classic 161 off 297 balls -- his fourth century in Tests -- which has provided his skipper Jasprit Bumrah with enough ammunition to exploit the variable bounce that is starting to trouble batters.
Virat Kohli (40 batting, 74 balls) used all his decade and half of experience in Test cricket is ensuring that the chase goes beyond Australia's reach and the classic on-drive off rival skipper Pat Cummins reminded one and all of the golden days that the 'King' has enjoyed in this part of the world.
Devdutt Padikkal (25) and Dhruv Jurel (1) didn't make most of the big break that they got and are all set to be replaced in the next Test in Adelaide with both skipper Rohit Sharma and injured Shubman Gill set to be back in action. Rishabh Pant's (1) intent was spot-on but execution can always go wrong when one plays a high-risk game.
The post-lunch session turned out to be the most productive one for Australia since the opening day as India, starting the session at 275 for 1, slumped to 321 for 5 but by then the lead was well past 360-run mark and it didn't hurt the team much.
With no seam movement, Kohli was able to control the other factor -- variable bounce -- and his front-foot stride was way more assured compared to first essay.
However if India go on to win the Test match, Jaiswal and KL Rahul (77)'s 201 run opening stand would be as important as Jasprit Bumrah's first innings five-for.
Exactly 32 years ago, 17-year-old Sachin Tendulkar became a global phenomenon with a hundred for the ages at the old WACA ground on a track that had those snake-like cracks and in the last two days, Jaiswal (141 batting, 264 balls) has shown the entire world that he is here to be the torch-bearer of Indian batting for the next decade and a half.
The 22-year-old has hit 15 fours and three sixes as he became the second youngest Indian batter after Sachin Tendulkar to score a hundred at Perth.
Jaiswal completed his fourth Test hundred and first in a SENA country with a beautifully executed ramp shot off a bouncer bowled by Josh Hazlewood.
The celebration was one for the keeps with hands in the air and gratitude for the almighty before showing his lean but muscular biceps. All his four Test hundreds are now scores of 150 plus.
The six also ensured that Jaiswal and KL Rahul's opening pair surpassed the previous record stand of 191 set by Sunil Gavaskar and Krishnamachari Srikkanth way back in Sydney in 1986.
Devdutt Padikkal knew that best chance to get some confidence was to score a few runs before the second new ball was taken.
He had an extremely confident Jaiswal at the other end, who smashed Nathan Lyon's delivery pitched on the rough through the off-side. Jaiswal hit a gorgeous off-drive off Starc once the second new ball was taken.
Jaiswal-Padikkal duo added 74 runs for the second wicket but the Karnataka player failed to convert the start that he got.
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