Up, Up And Away Yashasvi Jaiswal's Stunning Start In Test Cricket

Yashasvi Jaiswal has had a sensational start to his Test career and is the third-highest run-getter this year only after Joe Root and Kamindu Mendis. Jaiswal has an aggregate of 929 runs in eight Tests (15 innings) at an average of 66.35 and strike rate of 80.64 in 2024. He was the standout batter for India in their stupendous seven-wicket win against Bangladesh in Kanpur. 

Jaiswal smashed 72 off 51 balls in the first innings and followed that with 51 off 45 balls in the second, leading India's charge as they displayed their own version of ‘Bazball' to the world! Jaiswal has played just 11 Tests but is already a force to be reckoned with in the format. We look at some defining numbers, as outlined here, which standout from his career. 

Most runs in the world since Test debut Jaiswal has had a brilliant start to his Test career and has the highest aggregate in the world since his debut against West Indies at Roseau in July 2023. Jaiswal has scored 1217 runs in 11 Tests (20 innings) and is followed by Joe Root (aggregate of 1166 runs in 13 Tests/ 23 innings) and Kamindu Mendis (943 runs in 7 Tests/12 innings). Rohit Sharma is the next Indian on the list and is 475 runs behind Jaiswal! 

A leading proponent of Indian Bazball 

Rohit Sharma has led a mini-revolution for India at the top of the order in limited-overs' cricket in the last couple of years advocating an all-out attack policy in the powerplay. The new aggressive mindset has brought rich dividends for India as they made it to the final of the 2023 World Cup before lifting the 2024 T20 World Cup in the Caribbean. Jaiswal has followed suit and completely immersed himself into this philosophy in both T20Is and Test cricket – the two formats he has played for India. 

While the left-hander has a strike rate of 164.3 in T20I cricket, he has also scored at a fair clip in red-ball cricket hammering 71.67 runs per hundred deliveries. Jaiswal is a genuine match-winner for India at the top of the order as he scores big runs at a high strike rate. He provides India with blitzkrieg starts laying a platform for the middle-order, takes the shine off the new ball, demoralizes opposition attacks and in turn also creates enough time for the Indian bowlers to get the opposition out twice – especially in home conditions – a quintessential example of which was in Green Park in Kanpur against Bangladesh. Only Virender Sehwag (strike rate of 82.23), Kapil Dev (80.91) and Rishabh Pant (74.14) have a higher strike rate for India in Test cricket (min. 1000 runs) than Jaiswal (strike rate of 71.67). 

Amongst the current crop of batters, only Harry Brook (strike rate of 86.79), Ben Duckett (86.18) and Pant (74.14) have a higher scoring rate than Jaiswal. Third-highest average in Test history Jaiswal has piled on 1217 runs in 11 Tests at an average of 64.05 with three hundreds and seven fifties. His batting average places him at number 3 on the all-time list (minimum 1000 runs) only after Sir Don Bradman (average of 99.94) and Kamindu Mendis (91.27). 

Still, early days, but as far as starts go, it does not get better than this! The third-fastest to 1000 Test runs in the last 50 years Jaiswal rocketed to 1000 Test runs in his 16th inning in Test cricket in the fifth Test against England at Dharamsala in March this year. He became the second-fastest Indian (in terms of number of innings) to breach the 1000-run mark after Vinod Kambli who reached the milestone in his 14th inning. 

Just for perspective, Cheteshwar Pujara (18 innings), Mayank Agarwal (19 innings) and Sunil Gavaskar (21 innings) complete the top 5 for India. Overall, Jaiswal is the 10th fastest to reach 1000 runs in the history of Test cricket! And the third-fastest in the last 50 years after Kamindu Mendis (13 innings) and Kambli (14 innings).

Hundred on Test debut 

Jaiswal made headlines when he hammered a brilliant 171 on Test debut against West Indies at Roseau in July, 2023. Interestingly, it was not a typical swashbuckling innings from Jaiswal. He applied himself and adjusted to the conditions spending a little more than eight hours in the middle. Jaiswal faced as many as 387 deliveries showcasing his ability to change his style according to the situation at hand. He became the 17th Indian to record a hundred on Test debut.

In the same league as Brian Charles Lara Jaiswal achieved a unique feat against England at Visakhapatnam in February this year. He became only the seventh batter to record a double ton in an innings with no other batter registering even a fifty in the same innings! Jaiswal had hammered a magnificent 209 in the second Test and the second-highest scorer of the innings was Shubman Gill with 34. 

Jaiswal joined an elite list of batters to have achieved this feat - Brian Lara (vs Aus, 2005), Marvan Atapattu (vs Zimbabwe, 1999), Dennis Amiss (vs West Indies, 1974), Arthus Morris (vs England, 1951), Leonard Hutton (vs West Indies, 1950) and Dudley Nourse (vs Australia, 1935). 

Third Indian to record two consecutive double hundreds 

Jaiswal rewrote the history books when he piled on a stunning unbeaten 214 off just 236 deliveries against England in the third Test at Rajkot in 2024. He became the third Indian batter to record two consecutive double hundreds after Vinod Kambli and Virat Kohli. Jaiswal also joined Vinoo Mankad (vs New Zealand at home in 1955-56) and Kohli (vs Sri Lanka at home in 2017-18) and became the third Indian to score two double centuries in a Test series!