3 best knocks by an Indian left-hander on Test debut
Ahead of the first Test between India and the West Indies, there were a lot of people eagerly waiting for Yashasvi Jaiswal's debut. The 21-year-old southpaw was selected in the Test side on the basis of a stellar domestic season followed by a magnificent run in the IPL for the Rajasthan Royals.
The young man didn't disappoint, scoring a sensational 171 in India's first innings. He faced 387 deliveries in what was a fantastic inning laced with 1 maximum and 16 boundaries. He shared a 229-run opening with skipper Rohit Sharma as the hosts were left absolutely clueless.
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A mammoth innings on debut comes to an end
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He was finally dismissed by Alzarri Joseph, but by then, the damage had already been done. Jaiswal's phenomenal effort will be celebrated for a long time, and Indian fans will hope that this is just the first of many more.
Jaiswal, though, is not the first left-hander to shine on his Test debut. A few other lefties have made a grand entry at the Test level.
Here, we look at three such players:
#1 Sourav Ganguly-131 (Lord's, 1996)
Sourav Ganguly, one of India's best ever captains, announced himself in style as he scored a magnificent century on his Test debut against England in a test match against them in 1996. His 131 off 301 deliveries helped India get to a score of 429 and take a lead of 85 runs in the process.
His knock included 20 boundaries, and he shared vital partnerships with Sachin Tendulkar and Ajay Jadeja during the course of his innings. The game eventually ended in a stalemate but will forever be remembered for 'Dada's' phenomenal effort.
#2 Suresh Raina-120 (Colombo, 2010)
While Suresh Raina didn't really establish himself in the Test side, he did make a grand entry into the setup as he scored a ton against Sri Lanka on debut.
His century, a knock of 120, came in 2010 in what was a high-scoring match. He shared a massive 256-run partnership with Sachin Tendulkar during the essay.
He smacked 12 boundaries and two sixes during the inning. The game, though, ended in an inevitable draw as batters found the going easy while bowlers struggled a lot to pick up wickets.
#3 Shikhar Dhawan-187 (Mohali, 2013)
Shikhar Dhawan made his Test debut for India against Australia in Mohali in 2013. He opened the batting with Murali Vijay, and the two put on a record-breaking partnership of 289 runs for the first wicket. Dhawan scored 187 runs off 174 balls, including 33 fours and two sixes.
He reached his century off just 85 balls, the fastest by an Indian on his Test debut. His innings helped India to a first-innings score of 499, and they went on to win the match by 91 runs.
Shikhar Dhawan was a part of the Indian ODI team before being dropped recently. He recently featured in the IPL, in which he led the Punjab Kings. While he did well with the bat, the team as a whole failed to fire.