10 years apart, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shikhar Dhawan script eerily similar 100s on Test debut
The West Indies were never going to trouble India. The subplots thus assumed greater significance. There was buzz around the potential debut of Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Ishan Kishan, becoming yet another understudy of Rishabh Pant.
In what is one of India’s easier assignments in the 2023-25 WTC cycle, the thinktank decided to play bold. The 21-year-old Jaiswal became the country’s 306th Test player and Kishan got the subsequent cap. With the latter having already represented India in white-ball cricket, fans and experts were smacking their lips to see the young Mumbai opener perform on the grandest stage.
And their hunger was satiated max as Yashasvi Jaiswal walked off with the third-highest score by an Indian on Test debut. Shikhar Dhawan’s 187 still remains top of the pile. And while it has been 10 years to that innings, the intricacies of that Mohali masterpiece are alarmingly similar to this riveting knock in Roseau.
Yashasvi Jaiswal’s first taste of international cricket, though, was in complete contrast to how he feasted on bowlers in the IPL. The southpaw was beaten, he seemed hurried, he got inside edges, and he was yet to get off the mark after facing 15 balls.
He then put away a short and wide delivery from speedster Alzarri Joseph to the cover-point boundary. The nerves eased slightly as he went to stumps on Day 1 unbeaten on 40 and with the expectation of a big conversion against a dilapidated cricketing nation.
Jaiswal reached his first checkpoint early on Day 2, in style, hitting his seventh boundary to get to his first international fifty. In the March of 2013, Shikhar Dhawan had also taken a similar route. He hit Nathan Lyon down the ground for a boundary to complete his half-century, albeit off far fewer deliveries.
The duo even broke into the Test team through journeys that are very alike. While Dhawan replaced veteran Virender Sehwag, Jaiswal got a look-in after regular opener Shubman Gill took an off-colour Cheteshwar Pujara’s No. 3 slot.
Both won Player of the Tournament at the Under-19 World Cup after finishing as the leading run-getter - Dhawan in 2004 and Jaiswal in 2020. Interestingly, India failed to lift the trophy in those editions.
A special dedication after a special start in international cricket! 😊
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Their personality and physique might be chalk and cheese. But the two left-handed openers are not only elegant and doughty, but their shot-making and selection are also cut from the same cloth. Both have really strong off-side game.
You pitch it full, they’re going to hammer you through the covers. You go wide, they will maneuver the bat face to guide the ball to either side of the point. You bowl at the body and you will be pulled away. If you are a spinner and drop slightly short, they will use the depth of the crease to cut you behind square on the off side.
The entire wardrobe was on display as Jaiswal grinded along to a landmark hundred. While Shikhar Dhawan’s knock was riddled with more boundaries, the slow nature of the track and outfield at Windsor Park meant the former had to play late, right under his eyes and rely heavily on strike rotation.
But the swivel-pull off Joseph to go to 89 spelled an air of confidence and control. Funnily enough, Dhawan had also smashed Mitchell Starc to enter the nervous 90s. However, that was the Delhi lad’s 20th four as compared to Jaiswal’s 11th. Funny.
The way both dictated terms, the three-figure mark seemed pre-ordained. While Dhawan dived into the coveted milestone and did his iconic moustache twirl, Jaiswal paddled offie Alick Athanaze and bowed to the dressing room, as if paying a tribute to Gill for sacrificing the opening slot.
Post-century glow
In IPL 2012, Shikhar Dhawan had set the stage alight scoring 569 runs for the erstwhile Delhi Daredevils. Much like Yashasvi Jaiswal grabbed headlines this year, amassing 625 runs for RR including a breathtaking hundred against MI.
Once the pressure of milestones was vanquished, both decided to exhibit the full range. Surprisingly, their first aerial shot was a carbon copy of each other. Jaiswal went inside out over cover against Athanaze to go to 120, exactly how Dhawan treated Lyon when on 111.
Jaiswal's solitary six came as he lofted left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican over his head for a straight six. Dhawan had also struck a similar one against Xavier Doherty. Against the left-armer, they often danced down the track and pierced the gap between mid-off and cover, and even deployed reverse sweeps on some occasions.
The then 27-year-old had become the first Indian to reach 150 on Test debut. 10 years later, Jaiswal also took a single to become the third and the second opener to accomplish the feat. His captain Rohit Sharma had scored 177 that very year, also against the Windies.
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🏻A special Debut ✨
A special century 💯
A special reception in the dressing room 🤗
A special mention by Yashasvi Jaiswal 👌🏻
A special pat on the back at the end of it all 👏🏻
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If we delve deeper into their knocks, the pace-to-spin ratio of runs scored is also congruent. Jaiswal scored 46.19 percent of runs against the faster bowlers, while accounting the spinners for the remaining 53.81 percent. The parallel numbers for Dhawan are 44.91 & 55.09 percent, respectively.
Below is the detailed break-up:
Both had a period of lull as well, or rather a statutory circumspect phase closer to end of day’s play. Jaiswal played 29 dots on 130 to eventually finish the day on 143. Dhawan meanwhile, having rollicked all day, consumed 17 deliveries for five runs and ended on 185. Their opening partners also got hundreds. While Murali Vijay contributed 153 in a 289-run stand, Rohit scored 103 to put on 229 runs for the first wicket.
But guess what? Both sets of fans who came out in more numbers the next day hoping for a double, were rendered disappointed. Dhawan could add only two to his overnight tally as a defence off Lyon lobbed straight to silly point. Jaiswal collected a few more before getting a faint edge off Joseph on 171. Both were back in the shed before lunch.
The non-dismissals
Did you know Shikhar Dhawan could've been out on debut without even facing a ball?
He was at the non-striker's end, as Mitchell Starc came running in to bowl the first ball to Murali Vijay. But as he entered his delivery stride, the ball slipped out of his hand and dislodged the bails at Dhawan's end. And the debutant was out of his crease, having backed up too far.
Australia were well within the laws to appeal for a 'Mankad' - the term was abolished in September last year. Although skipper Michael Clarke jokingly brought his hands together in the shape of a DRS, the Aussies let it go, thus saving Dhawan the ignominy of a diamond duck.
Yashasvi Jaiswal's brush with luck came much deeper in his innings. He was batting on 133 when pacer Kemar Roach came around the wicket, slanted the ball in, past his inside edge and onto his left/back pad. Everyone went up in appeal - Roach almost collapsed on the pitch pleading - but umpire Richard Kettleborough remained unmoved.
The West Indians had already wasted all three reviews and thus couldn't cross-chek the most plausible of them all. The replays later suggested that the ball was crashing into the stumps and it would've been three reds and curtains for Jaiswal.
Debut hundred blues
If you are an Indian, getting a hundred on Test debut is considered a poisoned chalice. After his memorable outing in Mohali, Shikhar Dhawan donned the whites 33 more times. But this last inning came five years back.
Among the 17 Indians who scored a century in their maiden Test, only five have played more than 34 games. And if we apply the ‘Player of the Match’ filter, Rohit Sharma is the solitary member on the list.
Yashasvi Jaiswal has got all the facets to become a Test regular. But one has to take into account the slew of ‘uncontrollables’ in today’s day and age, let alone the dogfight for an India berth. As of now, the youngster shouldn’t let his memorable Test debut get to his head. He should leave the planted flag in Dominica and set out for Mission Trinidad.
P.S. After the success of Shikhar Dhawan’s debut, Virender Sehwag couldn’t play for India again. As of now, Cheteshwar Pujara has played one Test less than Sehwag’s 104.