Roseau (Dominica), . India’s young left-handed opener Yashasvi Jaiswal on Thursday became the 17th player from the country to score a century on Test debut after reaching the three-figure mark on the second day of the first Test against the West Indies.
Jaiswal, who resumed the second day’s play with an unbeaten 40, was cautious, yet positive, during his stay at the crease. He accelerated after the lunch break and completed his century in 215 balls with the help of 11 fours.
The opener brought up his century on his Test debut in the 70th over when his opening partnership with skipper Rohit Sharma crossed 200. This is India’s highest opening partnership in West Indies in Test cricket, as Jaiswal also became the first Indian opener to score a Test century away from home.
The last Indian batsman to score a century on debut was Shreyas Iyer in 2021 against New Zealand at Kanpur. Jaiswal’s opening partner Rohit Sharma scored a century on his Test debut in 2013 against the West Indies.
However, Jaiswal is only the seventh Indian batsman and the first in 13 years to score a Test century on debut away from home. Suresh Raina, who scored 120 against Sri Lanka in 2010, is the last Indian batsman to score a century on Test debut outside India.
Before him, Shikhar Dhawan in 2013 and Prithvi Shaw in 2018 have scored centuries in Test debut for India as an opener. The last three Indians to score a century on Test debut have been Mumbai players – Rohit, Shaw and Shreyas Iyer.
Prior to this Test, Jaiswal had played only 15 first-class matches in his career, but averages over 80 with nine hundreds, including a magnificent 265 in the second innings of the Duleep Trophy final last year.
