Yashasvi Jaiswal made his international debut for India on July 12 in the first Test of the two-match series against West Indies in Dominica. Along with him, Ishan Kishan also received the Test cap as he pipped KS Bharat for the wicketkeeper's slot. But Kishan didn't open the innings and Jaiswal got the opportunity as expected at the top of the order. As soon as Jaiswal walked out to open, the youngster became the first left-handed batter to open the innings for India in Tests in last 10 years.
The last left-handed batter to open for India in the longest format was Shikhar Dhawan who played a brilliant knock of 187 runs in Mohali Test against Australia in 2013. He went on to play 34 Test matches for India scoring 2315 runs at an average of 40.61 with seven centuries and five half-centuries to his name. Dhawan was dropped after the England tour in 2018 following constant low returns in testing conditions and hasn't played a Test since then.
Before Dhawan, Gautam Gambhir was the left-handed opening batter to make his debut way back in 2004 against Australia in Mumbai. However, it wasn't a memorable outing for the left-hander as he could muster only four runs across two innings. But Gambhir ended up playing 58 Test matches for India scoring 4154 runs at an average of 41.95 with nine centuries and 22 half-centuries.
Yashasvi Jaiswal is only the third left-handed opener for India in Tests in 21st century and with age well and truly on his side, has a brilliant chance to do better than his predecessors. He has already fared better than Gambhir on his debut and is batting on 40. His footwork against pace and spin has impressed many in his very first innings at the international level and it remains to be seen if he can become the first Indian opener to smash a ton on Test debut since October 2018. Prithvi Shaw had scored a century against West Indies at home in 2018.
