After a forgettable outing in the first innings where he bagged an eight-ball duck, Yashasvi Jaiswal changed his fortunes around in style as he smashed a dogged and memorable hundred in the second innings to put India in pole position in the ongoing Perth Test.
Jaiswal has now become only the third India player to score a hundred in their maiden Test appearance in Australia. Only two other Indians had scored a hundred in their first Test appearance in Australia and they were Motganhalli Jaisimha and Sunil Gavaskar.
Jaisimha scored 74 and 101 in the Brisbane Test, played between India and Australia in January 1968. On the other hand, Gavaskar had scored 3 and 113 in the Brisbane Test in 1977 against Australia.
Notably, the former India opener Murali Vijay had come very close to getting on the list in 2014 but was adjudged leg before wicket (LBW) on 99 in the second innings of the Adelaide Test which was his first red-ball appearance in Australia.
India players to score a century in first Test appearance in Australia
Player | Score |
Motganhalli Jaisimha | 3 and 113 |
Sunil Gavaskar | 74 and 101 |
Yashasvi Jaiswal | 0 and 161 |
Meanwhile, Jaiswal has scored four centuries in the ongoing ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 cycle - the most by any India batter. Both Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill are jointly tied for the second spot with three centuries each.
Both Jaiswal and Kane Williamson are joint-third on the list of players in terms of the most centuries in the ongoing WTC cycle with four hundreds each. Sri Lanka's Kamindu Mendis is third with five tons and England's Joe Root is at the top with six centuries.
India (Playing XI):
KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Reddy, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Jasprit Bumrah(c), Mohammed Siraj
Australia (Playing XI):
Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood