IND vs WI: Jaiswal surpasses Gill after slamming seventh Test century, emulates Smith, Cook and other batting icons

Yashasvi Jaiswal bounced back from a blip in Ahmedabad as he brought up his second century in three Test outings on the opening day of the second Test against West Indies in Delhi on Friday. The left-handed opener continued his sparkling run in Test cricket after bringing up his seventh century in the format during the afternoon session at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium.

In the process, the 23-year-old opener from Mumbai emulated legends of the game such as Graeme Smith, Javed Miandad, Alastair Cook and Kane Williamson – all of whom had scored seven Test hundreds before turning 24.

Only the legendary trio of Don Bradman (12), Sachin Tendulkar (11) and Garfield Sobers (9) had scored more hundreds at the same stage.

Jaiswal third among Indian batters with most tons at the age of 23

Jaiswal’s century is also his eighth for India across formats, with the Rajasthan Royals opener having also slammed a century for the Men in Blue in Twenty20 Internationals.

The southpaw thus went past current India Test and ODI captain Gill and is third in the list of Indian batters with most international centuries by the age of 23. Tendulkar leads the list with 22 centuries in 220 innings while former captain Virat Kohli is second with 15 in 119.

Jaiswal, who had been dismissed for 36 in the series opener at the Narendra Modi Stadium, has scored 8 centuries in 71 innings, and has time until his 24th birthday on 28 December to boost that number.

India, meanwhile, found themselves in complete control at tea on Day 1 in the national capital, cruising to 220/1 after 58 overs with Jaiswal’s second-wicket partnership with B Sai Sudharsan – currently batting on 71 – worth 162 so far.

KL Rahul, who was one of three Indian centuries in the series opener in Ahmedabad, is the only batters to have been dismissed so far, getting stumped off Jomel Warrican’s bowling on 38.

Gill had earlier won his maiden toss as Test captain and opted to bat, naming an unchanged Indian XI.