Emerging batter Yashasvi Jaiswal has taken Test cricket by storm. After making their debut last year in July, the left-hander has rapidly established himself, already accumulating five scores of over a hundred, including two double centuries.
In the fifth Test against England on Thursday, Jaiswal further solidified his position as the leading run-scorer in the ongoing five-match series, surpassing the 700-run mark. In achieving this, Jaiswal broke the previous record held by former India captain Virat Kohli for the most runs in a Test series against England – Kohli had scored 655 runs in the 2016/17 home series.
Jaiswal is now only the second Indian, following Sunil Gavaskar, to score over 700 runs in a single Test series. Gavaskar had achieved this feat twice in his career, both times against the West Indies – scoring 774 runs in 1971/72 and 732 runs in 1978-79.
The dynamic opener also has the chance to become the all-time leading run-scorer, surpassing Gavaskar, with one potential innings left in the series.
Coming to bat after the spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Ravichandran Ashwin wreaked havoc, taking nine wickets collectively and dismissing England for 218, Jaiswal played an aggressive 58-ball-57 before being dismissed by Shoaib Bashir.
In doing so, Jaiswal also became the joint-third quickest opener to reach 1000 Test runs, achieving the milestone in 16 innings – one less than Indian captain Rohit Sharma took to reach the same landmark.
At the conclusion of the first day's play in Dharamsala, Rohit (52*) remained on the field alongside Shubman Gill (26*) as India trailed by 83 runs in the first innings.