Jaiswal Shatters Records with Swift Half-Century in Fifth Test
During the fifth and concluding Test of the current series against England in Dharamsala, Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal scored a swift 57 on the first day.
After England was dismissed for 218 in the first innings, India began their batting response strongly. A century partnership between openers Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma propelled them to 135 at the close of the day’s play.
Jaiswal’s wicket was the only one to fall on the first day for India, with the opener dismissed for a rapid 57. However, his fiery innings rewrote the record books.
In the 15th over, he smashed England off-spinner Shoaib Bashir past backward square leg, bringing up his 1000th Test run. This achievement made him the second-fastest Indian batter to reach this milestone in terms of innings batted.
Fastest to 1000 Test Runs for India
| Batter | Innings | Year | Opposition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vinod Kambli | 14 | 1994 | West Indies |
| Yashasvi Jaiswal | 16 | 2024 | England |
| Cheteshwar Pujara | 18 | 2013 | Australia |
| Mayank Agarwal | 19 | 2020 | Australia |
| Sunil Gavaskar | 21 | 1973 | England |
During his innings, Jaiswal also became the fastest Indian opener to reach 1000 Test runs. His current opening partner, Rohit Sharma, holds the second-fastest record.
Jaiswal started defensively but quickly accelerated, hitting three sixes in Bashir’s opening over. He ended his innings with three sixes, contributing to his tally of 26 sixes against England. He now holds the record for the most Test sixes by an Indian batter against a specific opponent.
Most Test Sixes by an Indian Batter (by Opposition)
| Batter | Sixes | Opposition | Innings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yashasvi Jaiswal | 26 | England | 9 |
| Sachin Tendulkar | 25 | Australia | 74 |
| Rohit Sharma | 22 | South Africa | 20 |
| Kapil Dev | 21 | England | 39 |
| Rishabh Pant | 21 | England | 21 |
Prior to his dismissal, Jaiswal also surpassed the 700-run mark for the series, making him only the second Indian player to score more than 700 Test runs in a series. The legendary opener Sunil Gavaskar is the only other player to have achieved this feat, having done so twice.
Gavaskar scored 774 runs against the West Indies in his debut series in 1971 and 732 runs at home against the same team in the 1978/79 season. Jaiswal, with 712 runs, still has one more innings to play in the series and could potentially surpass Gavaskar’s record for India.
Earlier in the day, Indian spinners took control in the first innings. Kuldeep Yadav was exceptional in an extended spell in the second session, finishing with his fourth Test five-wicket haul. He also crossed 50 Test wickets during this five-for, becoming the first-ever slow left-arm unorthodox spinner from India to achieve this feat.
Ravichandran Ashwin also picked 4/51 in the first innings of his 100th Test.