Cricket: Yashasvi Jaiswal smashes India’s 49-year batting record in Edgbaston victory
Jaiswal joins elite list of Indian batsmen to reach impressive feat
The Indian cricket team has undergone a major overhaul this year, with the likes of stalwarts including Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin all calling time on their international Test careers following the completion of the Indian Premier League.
Leading up to their tour of England, the Indian selection committee had to make several big calls as they looked to usher in the next generation of cricketers to represent the country, with Shubman Gill appointed as captain to succeed Sharma and Rishabh Pant elected as his deputy.
At the top of the batting order, Yashasvi Jaiswal is now partnered by KL Rahul, and while there were questions about their ability to produce the type of performances that Sharma and Kohli had done for years, those concerns are evaporating at pace following their showings at Headingley and Edgbaston.
Jaiswal, in particular, has been nothing short of incredible since breaking into the national team in 2023, already up to fourth place in the ICC Test batting rankings, and he added another record to his resume over the weekend in India’s second innings.
Despite only managing 28 runs, the 23-year-old’s knock saw him become the joint-fastest Indian cricketer to reach 2,000 runs in Test cricket, surpassing some of the greatest of all time, including Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar and Vijay Hazare.
India’s young opener reached the landmark in just 23 Tests (40 innings) and now joins Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag at the top of the list, while also becoming the second-youngest to reach the 2,000-run mark for his nation, only behind Tendulkar.
Fastest Indian batsmen to reach 2,000 runs
40 innings - Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Yashasvi Jaiswal
43 innings - Vijay Hazare, Gautam Gambhir
44 innings - Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar
45 innings - Sourav Ganguly
46 innings - Cheteshwar Pujara
Records tumble in second India vs England Test
In addition to Jaiswal’s landmark-reaching effort last week, the second Test between India and England saw several records sent tumbling, starting with the Men in Blue finally securing their first win at Edgbaston ever, following seven defeats and one draw.
India’s 336-run margin of victory was another record-breaker, as it was the team’s biggest win in terms of runs outside of India, surpassing the 318-run triumph they posted against the West Indies in North Sound back in 2019.
Akash Deep’s 10-wicket haul for 187 runs in the match is now the best figures and only the second 10-for for an Indian bowler in England. He and Mohammed Siraj claimed 17 scalps combined, which is the joint-highest by Indian new-ball bowlers in a Test.
Shubman Gill became the fourth-youngest Indian captain to win a Test match, and the team’s new skipper also broke Virat Kohli’s record (293) for the most runs scored by an Indian captain in a Test, posting an incredible 430 runs across both innings.
