After India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal’s impressive unbeaten score of 179 on Day 1 of the second Test in Visakhapatnam, former England captain Alastair Cook praised his performance. Jaiswal single-handedly guided India to a total of 336 for six by the end of the day, overshadowing his teammates who struggled to surpass 40 runs individually. Cook, who led England to a Test series win in India in 2012, suggested that Jaiswal’s innings masked the concerns in the hosts’ batting.
‘He has been absolutely outstanding, Jaiswal. He is 179 not out, while the rest of the Indian team are technically 158-6, on a pretty good day one pitch. India’s fragile batting lineup is still there, but it has just been hidden by a quite superb innings when his side really needed him,” Cook said.
Expressing a similar sentiment, Cook’s ex-teammate Kevin Pietersen criticized the overall approach of the Indian batters, asserting that England claimed the day’s honors despite Jaiswal’s unbeaten innings.
Alastair Cook said, – “Yashasvi Jaiswal was absolutely outstanding. India team were 158-6 on a pretty good wicket. If you take him out of the side their fragile batting line-up is still there”.
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“One thing we know about England is when they come out to bat, they are going to attack, score quickly and score positively. They are not going to come in and bat the way India have batted today. I think that has put England ahead in the game. I say that because there wasn’t any gremlin on the pitch on Day 1. The bounce was even and there wasn’t any crazy spin to make me feel that India should be more than 3 or 4 down,” Pietersen said.
While India’s young gun Jaiswal achieved his maiden double century on Day 2, he was later dismissed at 209 as England bowled India out for 396 in the first innings.
Also Read: IND Vs ENG: Cricket Fraternity Reacts To Yashasvi Jaiswal’s Historic Double Ton
