Former England captain Michael Atherton reserved huge praise for Yashasvi Jaiswal after the young India batter scored his second double century in as many games against the visitors. Jaiswal leads the run-scoring charts with 545 runs in three matches, having smashed 209 and 214 runs in the second and third Test respectively. In the recently concluded third Test, Jaiswal took the charge against England great James Anderson, carting three consecutive sixes of him on Day 4.
The first six of the three from Jaiswal’s bat came on the leg-side after Anderson bowled a full-toss on the pads. For the next delivery, Jaiswal stepped down the pitch and smashed the ball over the head of the cover fielder.
On the third instance, Jaiswal took a step back and smashed Anderson down the ground for a stunning six.
On Jaiswal humiliating Anderson, Atherton pointed that the legendary pacer has been rarely “treated with such disdain”.
“Fantastic young player. Haven’t seen much of him in Test match cricket. England fans didn’t see much of him before the series but now they’ve seen enough to know that he’s a special young talent. Very hungry for runs. All three of his hundreds are over 150 – two of them doubles. He smacks the ball a long way; a powerfully built lad. He’s a modern T20 player who’s adapting to Test cricket and has the technique to do it,” Atherton said on Sky Sports.
Atherton urged Ben Stokes and co. to divise a plan to get Jaiswal out as early as possible, else it could get even worse for the visitors in the remaining matches.
“When he gets in, he has all the shots. Jimmy Anderson is rarely treated with such disdain like he was this afternoon when he got taken for those three consecutive sixes. So he’s a very dangerous player and England need to work out a way to get him early if they can.”
Jaiswal, who had retired hurt after scoring a century on Day 3, returned to the pitch on Sunday, racing his way to 150 and 200 in no time.
India won the third Test by a record 434-run margin to go 2-1 up in the series.
The fourth Test starts Friday, February 23 in Ranchi, while the fifth and final Test will be played from March 7-11 at the picture-esque HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala.
Topics mentioned in this article
