"The celebration shows how significant it was for him" - Irfan Pathan lauds Yashasvi Jaiswal's century in ENG vs IND 2025 1st Test

Former India player Irfan Pathan has lauded Yashasvi Jaiswal for scoring an 'outstanding' century in the first Test against England. He noted that the opener's celebration after reaching his hundred showed the significance of the milestone.

Jaiswal scored 101 runs off 159 deliveries on Day 1 of the first Test against England in Leeds on Friday, June 20. The visitors ended the day at 359/3, with Shubman Gill (127* off 175) and Rishabh Pant (65* off 102) being the unbeaten batters.

During a discussion on Sony Sports, Pathan praised Jaiswal for his batting approach, highlighting that the youngster's celebration showed how crucial the knock was.

"Outstanding batting. He made a statement on the first ball by defending. It was the first ball of the series from Chris Woakes, and he took his foot forward and defended. His game plan was to play balls outside the off stump and on the stumps with great control," he said. "Whether the ball was full or he had to play on the up, the aggressive approach we saw against bad balls from this young Yashasvi Jaiswal's bat was praiseworthy. The celebration shows how significant it was for him to score a century on the England tour as a youngster," the former India all-rounder added.

Pathan pointed out that Jaiswal, who has scored hundreds in his maiden Tests in the West Indies, Australia and England, scored his runs predominantly square of the wicket on the off side.

"He is 23 years old, and he has scored a hundred on his Test debut, and hundreds in his first match in Australia and England. He scored nearly 72% runs square on the off side. He scored hardly any runs on the leg side. The wagon wheel clearly shows what his plan was. Absolutely brilliant batting by an Indian batter in these alien conditions," he observed.

Yashasvi Jaiswal played a 171-run knock on his Test debut against the West Indies in Roseau in July 2023. He scored 161 runs in India's second innings of the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 in Perth in November last year.

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"Whoever doesn't cut, doesn't score runs in England" - Ajay Jadeja lauds Yashasvi Jaiswal's strokeplay in ENG vs IND 2025 1st Test

Yashasvi Jaiswal struck 16 fours and a six during his 101-run knock. [P/C: Getty]

In the same discussion, former India captain Ajay Jadeja was asked about Yashasvi Jaiswal virtually cutting England into pieces with his cut shots.

"Whoever doesn't cut, doesn't score runs in England. If you look at it over the years, whoever plays the cut shot, their chances of scoring runs in England always increase. However, the drives he played before those cut shots," he responded.

The cricketer-turned-commentator praised Jaiswal for playing a measured innings.

"When he was on fifty, 22 or 23 percent runs were between mid-off and the bowler. He drove and cut well, and he showed solidity today. Jaiswal's habit is to play attacking, even in the air, but we didn't see all of that. He showed everything that is required in England," Jadeja observed.

Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul (42 off 78) stitched together a 91-run opening partnership to give India an excellent start. The left-handed opener then added 129 runs for the third wicket with Shubman Gill after Rahul and Sai Sudharsan (0 off 4) had been dismissed in back-to-back overs.

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Edited by Kartik Iyer