All posts by n8rngtd.top

In-form opener will face Surrey in upcoming round after injury to Scott Borthwick

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Sep-2024Emilio Gay will join Durham on loan for their County Championship clash with table-topping Surrey at the Kia Oval on Tuesday, after the club captain Scott Borthwick was ruled out for the rest of the season with an elbow injury.Gay, 24, has enjoyed a prolific season at the top of Northamptonshire’s order, scoring 919 runs at 57.43 in ten matches, including a career-best 261 against Middlesex in April.However, he was out of contract at the end of the season, and having agreed to join Durham on a two-year deal from 2025, he has now brought forward his time at the club to include their final two Championship matches, against Surrey and Kent.Alex Lees will take over as Durham’s captain for the remainder of the season.Gay’s arrival is a boost for Durham, who are currently fifth in Division One in their first season back in the top flight for eight years, and who will face a Surrey side still smarting from their shock defeat against title challengers Somerset at Taunton last week. Surrey currently lead Somerset by eight points, and have still to face Essex in their final match at Chelmsford, starting September 26.Surrey’s morale took a further dent on Saturday when Somerset also ended their hopes of a domestic double in the T20 Blast semi-final at Edgbaston.With England’s ongoing white-ball series against Australia limiting player availability, Surrey were shorn of four key players in that contest. They now face missing more personnel for the last rounds of the Championship, with Gus Atkinson already ruled out with injury, and Ollie Pope rested for the final two rounds with England due to fly out for their Test series against Pakistan in just over two weeks’ time.

Madhya Pradesh lost their remaining four wickets in 11.3 overs on day five

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Mar-2024Vidarhba’s bowlers made short work of Madhya Pradesh’s tail to confirm their spot in the final of the Ranji Trophy. Aditya Thakare and Yash Thakur started with a bang as Vidarbha took the four remaining wickets in 11.3 overs on the fifth morning in Nagpur to complete a 62-run win and join Mumbai as the finalists.MP started the day in strife, having already lost Yash Dubey, who top-scored with 94, before stumps last evening. They needed another 94 runs when Dubey departed, with Saransh Jain the last recognised batter.But Thakare’s double-strike dented MP’s hopes. He knocked over Kumar Kartikeya and Anubhav Agarwal in his first two overs of the day. Yash Thakur then landed the decisive blow by castling Jain.Avesh Khan and Kulwant Khejroliya, MP’s Nos. 10 and 11, showed some resistance with an 18-run stand, but Thakur completed the game by uprooting Khejroliya’s stumps.While Thakare helped take out the tail, Aditya Sarwate had dismissed both openers on the fourth day, and Akshay Wakhare ran through the middle order in the final innings to set up the victory.This will be Vidarbha’s third appearance in the Ranji final. They had reached their first final in the 2017-18 edition, which they went on to win, before also successfully defending their title in 2018-19.In this season’s final, Vidarbha will take on Mumbai, who trounced Tamil Nadu in a home semi-final in under three days. The match begins on March 10, and will be hosted by Mumbai.

Matt Taylor takes four as Patel, McKerr, Steel impress in losing cause for Surrey

ECB Reporters Network30-Jul-2024Cameron Bancroft’s 100 from 109 balls was backed up by an excellent bowling effort as Gloucestershire opened their Metro Bank One-Day Cup account with a convincing 37-run victory against Surrey at the Kia Oval.A defiant 87 from 96 balls by Ryan Patel, and 50 off 45 from Josh Blake, could not prevent Surrey from reaching only 264 in reply to Gloucestershire’s 301 all out, in which Miles Hammond had also made 51 and skipper Jack Taylor an explosive 44 with five sixes.Fast bowler Conor McKerr impressed for Surrey with List A best figures of four for 32, while Cameron Steel finished with four for 61, but overall Gloucestershire’s attack was more consistent with pacemen Matt Taylor and Ajeet Singh Dale both outstanding.Both teams were winless after their first two games, but it is Surrey who remain marooned at the bottom of the Group B table. For Gloucestershire, left-armer Taylor took four for 44 and Singh Dale two for 49.Blake and McKerr, who made 37 from 35 balls, hit out bravely in a seventh-wicket stand of 85 in 12 overs after Patel and Ben Foakes had rallied Surrey from 51 for three with a partnership worth 89.Taylor, who had removed both Dom Sibley, leg-before for nought, and Ben Geddes (14) in a superb five-over new ball burst of two for 10, later produced a sharp lifter that McKerr could only fend off to keeper James Bracey.Singh Dale had earlier returned for a second spell to have Foakes caught at deep square leg for 34 and then opener Patel – who had struck three sixes and seven fours – held by Bracey, thick edging as he tried to force away a short rising delivery to leave Surrey 153 for six.Rory Burns had fallen earlier for just six, leg-before to Ollie Price’s off spin, and after Price and left-arm spinner Tom Smith had combined effectively in mid-innings to peg back Surrey’s scoring rate it was another slow left-armer, Graeme van Buuren, who had Steel caught behind for a duck in between the Foakes and Patel dismissals.That left Blake and McKerr, who both hit sixes off Matt Taylor, to keep Gloucestershire waiting for a deserved victory and when Dom Goodman sprinted 20 yards towards mid off to claim a Blake skier off his own bowling it was all but over.Bancroft’s fifth List A hundred perfectly anchored Gloucestershire’s innings, while his fellow opener Hammond’s 57-ball half-century provided initial forward momentum and Jack Taylor’s 26-ball cameo gave the visitors late acceleration.Surrey, however, would still have been happy enough to limit Gloucestershire to 301 after they had reached the 40-over mark on 248 for four and with Taylor already beginning to hit out strongly in a 56-run stand with Bancroft.Steel picked up his fourth wicket by having Bancroft leg-before, sweeping, and McKerr almost immediately had Van Buuren caught at the wicket for a duck with a fine leg-cutter to peg the visitors to 260 for six.Taylor had by then square cut returning paceman Nathan Barnwell over the third man ropes for his first six, as well as slog-sweeping Yousef Majid’s left arm spin into the stands, but soon he struck James Taylor’s fast-medium for successive legside sixes before the same bowler ended his assault with the last ball of the 45th over.And suddenly, with McKerr on a hat-trick after removing Smith (3) and Goodman, from an edge behind to a diving Blake and then a mis-cued swat to mid wicket, Gloucestershire were 289 for nine.McKerr’s hat-trick ball then almost found the edge of last man Singh Dale’s bat as it whistled through to keeper Blake, but Sibley dropped Matt Taylor at long on off Steel, leaving him to finish unbeaten on 19 when Singh Dale fell to McKerr for six.Earlier, Hammond had dominated a first wicket stand of 79, after Gloucestershire had been put in, hitting two legside sixes and five fours.Majid saw Hammond chip the last ball of the 15th over straight to mid wicket but was then swept for six by Bancroft as the Australian international was joined by Price in a second wicket stand worth 74.Price was smartly stumped by Blake on 32, missing a cut when advancing to Steel, and the leg spinner had the last laugh after Bracey skied to long on after slog-sweeping him over the mid wicket ropes to go to 16.Steel’s googly bamboozled Ben Charlesworth on 12, the left-hander thin-edging to Blake, but Taylor arrived to help Bancroft push Gloucestershire’s total on to challenging proportions – and one which proved beyond Surrey.

ESPNcricinfo has learned that the tournament is waiting to be greenlit by PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi

Danyal Rasool19-Oct-2024There is no clarity on when the 2024-25 season of the Quaid-e-Azam (QeA) Trophy will start despite Pakistan’s bumper international Test season being well underway. A schedule tentatively put out by the PCB in August had Pakistan’s premier first-class tournament beginning on October 20, but the day before that date, the fate of the tournament remains uncertain.While the dates for all domestic competitions announced by the PCB in August were tentative and subject to change, a PCB official told ESPNcricinfo as recently as last month that the QeA was set to keep to its October 20 plan. ESPNcricinfo understands that no one, even those in charge of domestic affairs at the PCB, knows when the tournament schedule will eventually be announced.ESPNcricinfo has learned that the tournament is waiting to be greenlit by PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi.The PCB declined to comment on what holds the approval back at this stage, though budgetary approval operationally comes from the chairman, and is understood to be one of the factors in the delay. Even so, the lack of information about the QeA is in stark contrast to the fanfare with which the Champions One-Day Cup, which was held in September, was marked by the board.The decision to host that one-day tournament in September, in Pakistan’s only meaningfully free window until May, was significant because it meant players wouldn’t be able to get domestic red-ball cricket under their belts ahead of England’s ongoing three-Test tour in October. Members of the national Test set-up were understood to have privately expressed frustration with the situation, though there was an acceptance that the schedule was out of their control.The QeA has never quite managed to keep to a schedule or format, but no information about its start this late into a season is unprecedented of late. In each but two of the last 15 years has the tournament started later than October 26, with the schedule usually out well before October. Each of the last two seasons saw it begin in September; the tournament last year began on September 10, and was wrapped up by October 26.The situation is even more jarring in a season where Pakistan are scheduled to play more Test matches than any other this century. They are already more than halfway into the seven home Test matches they play between August 2024 and January 2025, with two Test matches in South Africa at the turn of the year.

Strong third-innings batting performances from Rahane and Suryakumar eventually set a stiff target for Haryana on a deteriorating pitch

Shashank Kishore11-Feb-2025A maiden five-wicket haul from left-arm seamer Royston Dias studded Mumbai’s 153-run win over Haryana at Eden Gardens. Up next in the semi-final will be Vidarbha, in a repeat of last year’s final.Dias fittingly picked up the final wicket when he had Jayant Yadav top-edge a pull to Suryakumar Yadav at mid-on to complete his five-wicket haul. Shardul Thakur, who picked up 6 for 58 in the first innings, was the other contributor. He ended with a match haul of 9 for 84 as Mumbai completed a sensational turnaround from 94 for 6 on the first morning.Related

• 'I thought I played well in WTC final 2023' – Rahane on getting dropped from Test team

• 'Genuine allrounder' Tanush Kotian continues to be Mumbai's crisis man

• Urvil Patel, bowlers lead Saurashtra's demolition in Sheldon Jackson's farewell game

Mumbai’s turnaround was orchestrated by Tanush Kotian and Shams Mulani, who put together 165 for the eighth wicket as they posted 315 in the first innings. Haryana responded solidly with Ankit Kumar, the captain, hitting 136, but from 218 for 3, Haryana collapsed to be bowled out for 301, thereby conceding a 14-run lead.Mumbai converted a slender lead into a match-winning one courtesy Ajinkya Rahane’s 108. The Mumbai captain put together a 129-run stand with Suryakumar, who ended a lean run of form with a typically robust 70 to set up the innings. Shivam Dube then made 48 to swell the lead further. Haryana were a bowler short for the entire second innings with seamer Ajit Chahal injured.Mumbai were poised for a lead of over 400, but collapsed on the fourth morning, losing 6 for 25 to set Haryana a 354-run target. They weren’t in the chase at any stage, stumbling to 60 for 5 very quickly. Opener Lakshay Dalal top scored with 64 while Sumit Kumar hit 62 as the pair briefly frustrated Mumbai with a 90-run sixth-wicket stand before the floodgates opened.

George Balderson half-century, Arav Shetty three-for help overcome Somerset

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay10-Aug-2025Lancashire 254 for 8 (Harris 95, Balderson 65) beat Somerset 250 for 7 (Goldsworthy 63, Vaughan 59, Hill 57) by two wicketsMarcus Harris led the way with 95 as Lancashire recorded a nerve-jangling two-wicket Metro Bank One-Day Cup victory over Somerset at the Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton.The home side posted 250 for seven after losing the toss, Lewis Goldsworthy top-scoring with 63, while Archie Vaughan contributed 59 and 19-year-old Devonian Fin Hill 57. Offspinner Arav Shetty marked his List A debut with 3 for 34 from ten overs.In reply, Lancashire reached 254 for eight with 8 balls to spare, Harris making his runs off 99 balls, with 7 fours and 2 sixes. George Balderson hit 65 and shared a match-winning fifth wicket stand of 101 with the former Australia Test player.A crowd of more than 5,000 at Somerset’s annual Family Fun Day saw the hosts suffer an early setback when Tom Lammonby was caught at backward point off George Balderson with the total on five.Goldsworthy and Vaughan had to exercise caution on a pitch lacking pace and were largely content to accumulate in ones and twos. Goldsworthy was first to fifty, off 70 balls, with 5 fours and the hundred partnership occupied 143 deliveries.Vaughan’s 81-ball half-century included only three boundaries and with 30 overs of their innings completed his side were becalmed on 129 for one.Goldsworthy provided 21-year-old Shetty with his maiden List A wicket, driving a catch to mid-off. With only
ten runs added, Vaughan was stumped advancing down the pitch to the graduate of the South Asian Cricket Academy, who quickly followed up by dismissing James Rew in similar fashion.Seamer Luke Hands claimed his maiden List A wicket on debut, Thomas Rew edging through to wicketkeeper George Bell to make the score 146 for five. Sixteen-year-old Hands ended the innings with a creditable one for 32 from eight overs.Somerset required another meaningful partnership and it came from rookies Hill and Josh Thomas, who added 66 in good style before Thomas holed out to deep square off Balderson for 32 at a run a ball. Hill then hit the first two sixes of the innings in the same over from Charlie Barnard, both launched over the leg side.The youngster’s maiden List A fifty came off 49 balls and enabled his side to post what appeared a below par total in bright sunshin.. Lancashire’s reply began with Michael Jones striking a straight six off Josh Davey in the fourth over, Somerset’s experienced seamer taking quick revenge by having him caught at deep cover with the score on 18.It was 42 for two in the ninth over when Bell, on 21, pulled a catch to deep square off Alfie Ogborne and 51 for three as Bohannon was caught and bowled by off-spinner Vaughan attempting a back-foot forcing shot
.
Harris responded with a six off Somerset 18-year-old Cornish seamer Kian Roberts, a third player making his List A debut, but lost another partner when Harry Singh inside-edged a wide ball from Vaughan onto his stumps.Harris went to fifty off 61 balls and at the halfway point in their innings Lancashire were 111 for four. The Australian looked to be winning the game as he accelerated with a six over long-off off Goldsworthy in a century stand with Balderson that appeared perfectly paced.With a century in sight, Harris fell to the left-arm spin of Goldsworthy, driving a catch to Roberts at mid-off. Lancashire still required 71, but Balderson was going well and moved to a well-crafted half-century off 62 balls, with 4 fours. Shetty gloved a catch behind off JT Langridge with 25 needed and the left-arm seamer struck again when Balderson top-edged a pull shot.Hands was then yorked by Davey to set up a tense finish, which saw Sutton dropped at cover by Vaughan off Davey before seeing side over the line.

The England batter had been taken at gold in the draft earlier this month

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Sep-2023England batter Danni Wyatt has withdrawn from the WBBL, where she was set to play for Perth Scorchers, due to fatigue.Wyatt was a gold pick by Scorchers in the draft earlier this month after they had retained Sophie Devine at platinum. She was recently rested from England’s ODI series against Sri Lanka.Scorchers then signed Amy Jones via the direct nomination route to complete their trio of overseas but will now have to find a replacement for Wyatt.Related

• Danni Wyatt: 'When I'm playing at my best, it's seeing ball, hitting ball. Pretty cool'

• Lanning 'disappointed' and 'frustrated' at Sciver-Brunt's likely WBBL signing

• Kapp goes pick one to Thunder in WBBL draft as Scorchers retain Devine

• Amy Jones completes Perth Scorchers' overseas signings

• Megan Schutt: 'I didn't have the skill or work ethic, I just happened to be able to swing a ball'

“We’re rapt to be able to have someone of Danni’s quality in orange,” Scorchers head coach Becky Grundy had said after the draft. “She’s shown in international cricket her ability to float up and down the order so there’s flexibility there.”Scorchers had set out with the aim to stock their top order during the draft with a belief their local players, alongside Devine, could carrying the bowling.The schedule in the women’s game continues to be increasingly busy with recent examples of players starting to pick and choose their tournaments. Smriti Mandhana and Nat Sciver-Brunt did not put their names into the WBBL draft.Speaking to ESPNcricinfo recently, Australia pace bowler Megan Schutt said more players were starting to have conversations about how much cricket they play.”Our schedule as a whole is pretty intimidating to be honest,” Schutt said. “But just having the choice is probably the ultimate opportunity in itself. There’s so many leagues now that if someone does want to do the T20 circuit, that’s bloody awesome.”If they have the body and desire to keep doing that then that’s cool. But it’s definitely daunting and something we’ve discussed with our coaches about how we are going to manage ourselves.”Meanwhile, Brisbane Heat have signed England legspinner Sarah Glenn as cover for New Zealand allrounder Amelia Kerr who will miss the start of the WBBL. Heat knew that Kerr would be unavailable early in the tournament but were always going to take her as their platinum pick.

Sandy Dharamsala outfield rated “average” for four out of five World Cup games

Shashank Kishore08-Dec-2023The ICC has given the Ahmedabad pitch used for the 2023 World Cup final between India and Australia an “average” rating. The ICC updated its list of pitch and outfield ratings this week, and surfaces for as many as eight World Cup matches across five Indian venues were rated average overall. This included five games involving hosts India.The World Cup final on November 19 was played on the same pitch that hosted the India-Pakistan fixture five weeks earlier, on the recommendation of the ICC’s pitch consultant Andy Atkinson, and the track received an average rating for both games. The surface at Eden Gardens used for the second semi-final between Australia and South Africa was also rated average. Eden Gardens received the most average ratings – five in all.The surface for the first semi-final, between India and New Zealand at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, was rated “good”. The track was in focus after the pitch was changed in the lead-up to the match from a fresh surface to a used track, but fears that it would be slow did not play out with the teams aggregating 724 runs, three centuries across both innings included, with just the lone wicket falling to spin.The ICC rates pitches, and separately outfields, for all international games as one of six ratings: very good, good, average, below average, poor, unfit.During the tournament, India head coach Rahul Dravid had expressed his disagreement with two “average” pitch ratings handed out for India’s league matches in Chennai (vs Australia) and Ahmedabad (vs Pakistan). At the time, he called for greater diversity in the kinds of surfaces that are considered “good” or “very good”.

Games for which the pitch was rated “average”

• India v Australia, Chennai, Oct 8

• India v Pakistan, Ahmedabad, Oct 14

• India v England, Lucknow, Oct 29

• Pakistan v Bangladesh, Kolkata, Oct 31

• India v South Africa, Kolkata, Nov 5

• Australia v Bangladesh, Pune, Nov 11

• Australia v South Africa, Kolkata, 2nd semi-final, Nov 15

• India v Australia, Ahmedabad, final, Nov 19

“If you want to only see 350-run matches and rate only those pitches as good, then I disagree with that,” Dravid had said before India’s game against New Zealand in Dharamsala on October 22. “You have to see different skills on display as well. If you wanted to only see fours and sixes being hit, then we have T20 for that. Why do we need anything else?”There are skills on display on 350 wickets also. That’s fine on that particular day. But in the first few games when it spins a little bit or something happens that brings the bowlers into the game, and you start rating pitches as average, where does it leave the bowlers? Why are they coming then? Play two T20 matches then. We need to have a better way of deciding what is good or average.”

Dharamsala outfield rated “average”

The ICC was largely satisfied with the nature of outfields, except the one in Dharamsala which was rated “average” for four out of the five games it hosted. During the tournament, a number of players had criticised the outfield. The main issue centred around the venue’s patchy grass and sandy base, which prevented players from diving freely, posing an injury threat if they did attempt it.Earlier in the year, an India vs Australia Test match was moved out of Dharamsala at short notice owing to the outfield’s condition.The outfield for the last of Dharamsala’s five World Cup games, between Australia and New Zealand on October 28, received a “very good” rating.The only other venue to receive an “average” outfield rating was the MCA Stadium in Pune, for the India vs Bangladesh fixture on October 19.

Australian finishes unbeaten on 54 against former club Middlesex in rain-affected run chase

ECB Reporters Network18-Aug-2023Leicestershire Foxes clinched their place in the knock-out stages of the Metro Bank One-Day Cup with a 23-run victory over Middlesex in a rain-affected contest at the Uptonsteel County Ground.In a day-night match reduced to 47 overs per side after the start was delayed, further rain caused the contest to be abandoned after 40 overs of Leicestershire’s innings, at which point the Foxes were 173 for 5 chasing 192 for victory, 23 runs ahead of the Duckworth Lewis Stern calculation for where they needed to be at that point.Australian international Peter Handscomb led them home with an unbeaten 54 after opener Rishi Patel’s 44, sharing an unbroken 51-run partnership with Sam Evans to secure a sixth victory from seven in the competition.The result guarantees Leicestershire can finish no lower than second in Group A, which would bring a home quarter-final. Only Hampshire, who have two matches left to the Foxes’ one, can deny them top spot, which would take them straight into a home semi-final.Middlesex, put in by Leicestershire, were bowled out for 191 in 40.1 overs. Sam Robson made 58 and John Simpson 33 but no other batter topped 21 for Middlesex, who lost their last six wickets for 55 with Tom Scriven taking 3 for 33 and Matt Salisbury, on his List A debut for Leicestershire, 3 for 41.Ethan Bamber was outstanding with the ball for Middlesex, bowling his full 10 overs in one spell at the start of Leicestershire’s innings for figures of 3 for 27, but even without Colin Ackermann, recruited by Southern Brave for the remainder of The Hundred, Leicestershire have a deep batting line-up that always made them favourites.The Middlesex innings had started promisingly. After a sublimely-timed chip over the leg side had brought Mark Stoneman a six off the first ball of the match, four boundaries by Joe Cracknell, all attractively executed bar a streaky inside edge, saw them set off at six an over but Leicestershire responded well.Wiaan Mulder straightened one enough to beat Cracknell’s defence before Salisbury struck in each of his first two overs, uprooting Stonemen’s middle stump before Jack Davies, driving, nicked behind. Middlesex, just out of powerplay one, were 53 for 3.They lost a fourth wicket when Ryan Higgins, driving loosely at a widish ball from Josh Hull, was caught at cover and from 70 for 4, it was vital that Robson and Simpson brought their experience to bear if Middlesex were to give their bowlers a defendable total.Yet after advancing the total to 136 without further loss, Robson anchoring reliably, Simpson putting away some lovely straight drives, the latter looked to be trapped in a moment of indecision as he was bowled by Scriven and a collapse followed,Scriven had Martin Andersson caught behind off a somewhat airy drive, Robson followed a ball angled across him by the returning Hull that found a faint edge before Salisbury, also starting a new spell, bowled Josh De Caires with a beauty. Luke Hollman, forced to play at one that came back, gave Handscomb a fourth catch against the team he used to captain and Mulder a second wicket, before Scriven ended Ethan Bamber’s late cameo with his third.The Foxes raced to 68 for 1 in powerplay one, 39 of them to Patel, who looked in fine touch from the outset, exposing the inexperience of 21-year-old Ishaan Kaushal with three fours in the youngster’s opening over, which also yielded five wides, before handing some early punishment to Ryan Higgins with a pick-up for six and a cover driven four.The only casualty was Sol Budinger, fresh from his maiden century earlier in the week, who lofted one soaring six off Higgins but was beaten and trapped in front by Bamber, whose five powerplay overs cost only 15 runs.Despite losing skipper Lewis Hill cheaply, bowled by one that cut back from Bamber, a couple of early boundaries for Handscomb kept Leicestershire ahead of the game but their progress was checked with two wickets in the space of 19 balls.Andersson replaced Higgins and promptly removed Patel, disappointingly out to a somewhat tame return catch. Bamber continued and added a third wicket to a superb spell with the dismissal of Mulder for three thanks to a brilliant one-handed catch by Robson at slip.With 99 needed from 30 overs and four of their top five gone, Leicestershire were under pressure for the first time in the match. Louis Kimber’s 22 off 21 balls brought the target down to 70 off 142 balls before he fell caught and bowled by leg-spinner Luke Hollman off a leading edge.It left Handscomb carrying a weight of responsibility, alongside a new partner in Sam Evans making his first competitive appearance of the season at first-team level in place of Ackermann.Yet with only three runs per over required, the Australian knew the sixth-wicket pair could be risk-averse and still finish the job.A shower sent the players off the field with 36 needed off 11.1 overs but the stoppage was brief enough for no more overs to be lost and Handscomb soon completed a 69-ball half-century with a nicely-timed cut for four off Andersson before the rain returned with seven overs still to go.

The opener got there in 215 balls and put on a double-century stand with Rohit Sharma

Karthik Krishnaswamy13-Jul-2023Yashasvi Jaiswal has become the 17th India batter to score a century on Test debut, and the first to do so outside Asia in more than 21 years. The 21-year-old reached the milestone on the second afternoon of the Dominica Test, bringing it up with a standing sweep for a single off the part-time bowling of fellow debutant Alick Athanaze.Jaiswal opened the batting alongside captain Rohit Sharma, with Shubman Gill moving down to the No. 3 spot vacated by Cheteshwar Pujara’s axing. When he reached his hundred, off 215 balls, India were 205 for no loss after they had bowled West Indies out for 150 on day one.”It was an emotional moment for me,” Jaiswal said after the day’s play. “I enjoyed it quite a bit. I am still batting so I will try to play for as long as possible. This is just the start of my career, so now it will be about how focused and disciplined I can be going forward.”My effort [on the third day] will just be on how I can give a good start to the team. I will just focus on my process and trust on what I have practiced. I just have to go and keep playing.”Jaiswal has shown a remarkable appetite for runs in every format he has played. When he was called up for this West Indies tour as part of an India side picked with an eye on the future, he had scored 1845 first-class runs at an average of 80.21, with nine hundreds in just 26 innings. His List A career of 32 games already includes a double-hundred. And he was the fifth highest run-getter in IPL 2023, with his 625 runs coming at a strike rate of 163.61. Jaiswal has now brought that appetite to Test cricket.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“I thinks it’s about how I prepare mentally,” Jaiswal said when asked about his preparations. “Of course, fitness is very important. I try to follow my diet and discipline and try to stay in good shape. And I practice the way I need to prepare. I keep trying to bat according to possible scenarios and how I can do well on the team. The effort is to just try and play match-winning knocks.”I spoke to Rohit quite a bit while batting. He kept telling me how we can play on this wicket and where the runs can come from. And even before the game, the way he told me ‘you have to do it, you are the only person’, I kept thinking about that and how I can get my runs.”West Indies tested both openers even as they struggled to separate them, on a slow pitch that offered the spinners both turn and bounce. Right through his innings, Jaiswal was happy to show the patience he required to earn his run-scoring opportunities. He took 16 balls to get off the mark on the first evening, and began the second morning by shouldering arms five times in a row to Jason Holder. By the time he reached his hundred, he had left or defended 56 of the 104 balls he faced from West Indies’ fast bowlers.At the same time, he was also prepared to exploit gaps in the field with unorthodox shots. He got off the mark in Test cricket with an uppercut for four, and he reverse-swept Jomel Warrican against the turn for a boundary in the last over of day one.When required to, Jaiswal was able to shift a gear down and see out difficult periods. Having hit seven fours while scoring his first 51 runs off 104 balls, he hit no boundaries and scored just 19 runs off his next 80 balls, a period during which spinners Rahkeem Cornwall and Jomel Warrican beat both openers multiple times with sharp turn.Having got through that testing spell, though, and with Cornwall off the field with a chest infection, Jaiswal opened up after lunch: he rushed from 70 to 100 in just 31 balls, hitting four fours in that period including a dancing, inside-out drive off Warrican.Of the 16 previous India batters to score centuries on Test debut, only two – Shikhar Dhawan in 2013 and Prithvi Shaw in 2018 – opened the batting. And only five scored their debut hundreds outside Asia, with Virender Sehwag the last to do so, in Bloemfontein back in November 2001.Jaiswal’s innings also extended a proud run for players representing his Ranji Trophy team: the last four Test-debut centurions for India have all been Mumbai batters, with Rohit, Shaw and Shreyas Iyer the three before Jaiswal.