Yashasvi Jaiswal carried the load of Indian batting on his young shoulders with a remarkable double hundred as the hosts ended with 396 in their first innings on day two of the second Test against England.
Resuming at an overnight 336 for six, India added 60 runs to their total before getting all out in 112 overs with little over 30 minutes left for lunch. As was the case on day one, India had to rely on Jaiswal (209 off 290) to get the majority of the runs.
In response, Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett had taken England to 32 for no loss in six overs at lunch. Duckett targeted pacer Mukesh Kumar, who leaked 22 runs in his two overs.
After sweeping Shoaib Bashir for a six and four, Jaiswal became third youngest Indian to make a double hundred after Vinod Kambli and the great Sunil Gavaskar. The celebrations were euphoric for a dedicated cricketer who slept in tents at Azad Maidan in Mumbai in his growing up days, having come to the metropolis from a nondescript village in Uttar Pradesh.
On Friday too, the 22-year-old left-hander had shown no sign of fear and got to three figures with a maximum.
However, the effort of the rest of the India batters left a lot to be desired. After Jaiswal’s sensational feat, the second highest score in the innings was Rajat Patidar’s 32.
Besides Jaiswal, the star of the session was 41-year-old James Anderson who produced another masterclass in seam bowling on a flat surface.
In his relentless eight-over spell, Anderson got the ball to move both ways from a wobbled seam. Even for a well-set Jaiswal, his spell was too hot to handle.
The old horse removed R Ashwin (20) with a peach that straightened from middle stumps and took the outside edge of the bat. Thinking the ball had only brushed his right thigh, Ashwin took the DRS but ended up wasting it.
Ashwin had a Ashwin had a couple of crisp cover drives off Bashir before being dismissed.
Running out of partners, Jaiswal decided to attack Anderson as well resulting in a catch at deep cover. The young Shoaib Bashir opened the bowling alongside Anderson and ended up bowling 10 overs in the session. The offie removed number 11 Mukesh for his third wicket.
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