'There was no devil in the pitch' - Sunil Gavaskar assesses Yashasvi Jaiswal's performance in second West Indies Test

Young Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal got his international career off to a sensational start as he became the 17^th Indian player to score a hundred on his Test debut. The 21-year-old achieved the feat during the first Test against West Indies at Windsor Park, Roseau, Dominica. Jaiswal played match-winning innings of 171 (387) and was also awarded Player of the Match for his century.

He was all set to emulate his feat in the second Test as well, however, he ended up chasing a wide delivery and nicked it to second slip for 57 against Jason Holder. Commenting on Jaiswal’s dismissal, legendary India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar stated losing patience cost Jaiswal his wicket as there was no devil in the pitch.

“Virat Kohli celebrated his 500th international appearance with a century. After seeing the first few deliveries it was apparent there was no devil in the pitch and a batter had to be overconfident or complacent to miss out on a hundred. Jaiswal lost patience and reached out to a widish half-volley and was caught at deepish backward point and Rohit didn't quite go to the pitch of the ball to be bowled," Gavaskar mentioned in his column for Mid-Day.

Jaiswal finished as the highest run-scorer of the Test series with 266 runs from two matches at an average of 88.66 with one hundred and one fifty to his name.

Notably, the youngster broke into the Indian team following a record-shattering season in the recent IPL 2023 and a tremendous first-class record. He amassed 625 runs at an average of 48.07 and a strike rate of 163.61 in IPL 2023, including one hundred and five fifties. Notably, Jaiswal recorded the most runs by an uncapped batter in the history of the tournament and also scored the fastest fifty in the tournament in just 13 balls. 

With the T20 World Cup scheduled next year, the Uttar Pradesh-born batter will look to emulate his performance in national colours as well and seal his place in the team for the mega event.