Rajkot, Feb 18 (FN Bureau) Yashasvi Jaiswal broke a slew of records with his second double century in the Test series against England as India beat the tourists by a whopping margin. Jaiswal made an unbeaten 214 to register back-to-back double centuries, continuing a mind-boggling start to his career in the longest format of the game. His stunning knock helped India take a 2-1 lead in the ICC World Test Championship series against England at home. Chasing a mammoth 557 for victory, England were bowled out for 122. India jump to second in the WTC standings for this cycle with the win. After seven Tests, Jaiswal now has 861 runs at an average of 71.75, including three hundreds, all of which have been converted to 150-plus scores. With all his runs coming in the current WTC 2023-25 cycle, Jaiswal also rises to the top of the leading run-scorer list ahead of Usman Khwaja (855 runs). The opener’s stunning knock in Rajkot broke several long-standing Test records.
Jaiswal hit 12 sixes during his 236-ball 214, equalling the record for the most sixes in a Test innings set by Wasim Akram way back in 1996 during his knock of 257 against Zimbabwe. The left-hander now has 22 sixes in the series, making it the most any batter has recorded in a bilateral Test series. Jaiswal beat the record set by his opening partner Rohit Sharma in 2019 against South Africa (19 sixes). Massive career milestone for Ravichandran Ashwin in Rajkot Test As a team, India has smashed 48 sixes in the ongoing Test series, the most any team has hit in a Test series. India beat the record they themselves set against South Africa in 2019 (47 sixes). 28 of those 48 sixes came in the Rajkot Test alone, the most by any team in a single Test match. At an early stage in his career, Jaiswal has already showcased a penchant for big scores with his three hundreds converted to scores of 171 (on debut), 209 and 214. Jaiswal made back-to-back double hundreds at the age of 22 years and 49 days, making him the third youngest batter in the world to record two double centuries in Tests after Sir Donald Bradman and Vinod Kambli, both of whom were 21 when making their second double century. He also became the third Indian batter to make back-to-back double hundreds in Tests after Kambli and Virat Kohli. India hit more than 400 in both innings of the Rajkot Test, making it just the third time the team has done so in a Test match.
India had made 407 and 407/9 against Pakistan in Kolkata in 2005. Four years later against Sri Lanka in Ahmedabad, the team made 426 and 412/4. India’s margin of victory in Rajkot — by 434 runs — is the largest for them in terms of runs where all four innings were played. The previous highest was a win by 372 runs against New Zealand at the Wankhede in 2021. India leapfrogged Australia in the WTC 2023-25 standings to go to second position. New Zealand remain on top with a point percentage of 75% after four Tests in the cycle. India are second with 59.52% while Australia are just behind with 55%.