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IMAGES from Day 2 of the first Test between India and the West Indies, at Windsor Park in Dominica, on Thursday.
Yashasvi Jaiswal, the young man from Bhadohi who toughened up on the ruthless Mumbai maidans, enjoyed his finest day on a cricket pitch with an unconquered debut hundred as India seized complete control on the second day of the first Test against the West Indies, in Dominica, on Thursday.
Skipper Rohit Sharma (103 off 221 balls) also eschewed his natural flair en route his 10th Test hundred and a record 229-run opening stand with Jaiswal (143 not out) as India batted cautiously, but still did well enough to slowly bat the West Indies out of the game, finishing the second day on 312 for 2, to swell their lead to 162 runs.
India adopted a cautious approach with the bat, scoring only 232 runs in 90 overs on Day 2.
Jaiswal, who batted the entire second day, had the seasoned Virat Kohli (36 not out) for company at close. The duo added 72 runs for the third wicket.
India will look to bat better part of the third day before Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja are again unleashed on an opposition that does not have enough technical wherewithal to counter them for two days.
The day certainly belonged to Jaiswal, who became the 14th Indian debutant to score a hundred, while Rohit had to wait for 220 balls to reach the landmark.
After 41 long years, since India's 1982 tour of England -- where Suru Nayak and Sunil Gavaskar opened -- there were two Mumbai men opening for the country. They put up the best-ever stand of 229 against the West Indies, beating the previous best of 201, set by Sanjay Bangar and Virender Sehwag back in 2001.
Jaiswal is the third Indian opener after Shikhar Dhawan (vs Australia in 2013) and Prithvi Shaw (vs West Indies 2018) to score a hundred on Test debut.
The Windsor Park track was two-paced; the ball gripped and there was some slow turn on offer. On tracks like these, it is difficult to score quickly but, at the same time, not too tough to hang around and grind the opposition to submission.
Indeed, it was old fashioned Test match batting at its best. Jaiswal and Rohit trusted their defensive game when they found deliveries gripping and waited for the loose ones as none of the West Indies bowlers looked threatening.
Jaiswal's hundred is certain to bring in its fair share of euphoria among fans as his is an endearing rags to riches success story.
The story of selling panipuri on Mumbai's Azad Maidan and climbing the boundary wall to catch a glimpse of IPL matches on giant screens warms the cockles of the heart and one wants to see the young man succeed.
As he completed his maiden Test century with a single on the leg side, Jaiswal let out a huge roar of relief and took a bow towards dressing room. His innings was laced with 14 fours; the best was the pull off Alzarri Joseph that got him to his 50.
What stood out on the day was his solid technique, fair idea about where his off-stump was and a very assured footwork against spinners. Add his impressive temperament in this cocktail -- enormous patience and choice of loose deliveries -- he looks like a ready package for international cricket.
What this century proved is that he belongs to international level, though on this track, against an attack that was low on potency, one can't judge how he would fair in tougher conditions, like South Africa and Australia.
Maybe it was the attack and nature of the pitch that made a free-flowing stroke-maker like Rohit not that ecstatic even after scoring a hundred.
The best stroke of the day came from Rohit, who flicked pacer Alzarri Joseph for a six over midwicket. India's skipper was out immediately after scoring his 10th Test hundred when his defensive prod off debutant Alick Athanaze's off-break ballooned up on the leg side for 'keeper Joshua Da Silva to complete an easy catch.
Shubman Gill's (6 off 10 balls) first game as No. 3 did not start off well; he paid the price for sitting in the dug out with pads on for nearly 76 overs.
After a sedate first session that yielded 66 runs, the second session was most productive with 99 runs, while it again tapered off in the third session that produced 67.