Retour
India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal returned to form with an unbeaten 155 off 162 balls for India A in the drawn second unofficial Test against New Zealand A at Hagley Oval in Christchurch on Tuesday. The left-hander anchored India's second-innings recovery after the visitors conceded a 78-run first-innings lead.
Jaiswal's century came after a difficult start to the ongoing New Zealand A series. He scored 17 and 5 in the opening unofficial Test before getting dismissed for a duck in India's first innings in Christchurch. The left-hander reached his century in 119 deliveries before increasing his scoring rate on the final day.
Speaking after his impressive innings, Yashasvi Jaiswal said following a disciplined routine and trusting his process were essential to producing consistent performances in challenging overseas conditions.
"It's not that easy... Just focus on process, routine, discipline. I think you have to be very disciplined here," he explained.
The left-hander highlighted the cold weather as one of the biggest differences between playing in New Zealand and other countries, including India, Australia, and England. He also pointed out that persistent cloud cover and changing sunlight had made conditions difficult throughout the match.
"New Zealand is a very different place compared to India, Australia, even England. Because it's very cold here. If you look at the air, the whole day it was cloudy. Then for some time, the sun came and left. It's been like this for the last four days," he said.
Yashasvi Jaiswal also stated that the new ball and seam movement made scoring difficult during the early stages of an innings. He acknowledged the quality of the New Zealand A bowlers, who consistently targeted challenging areas and forced the Indian batters to show patience.
"It's very cold here. The ball moves a lot initially and there is a lot of seam movement. And there are good bowlers hitting good areas consistently. So we have to wait a lot to make runs initially," he stated.
Yash Rathod scored an unbeaten 100 off 122 deliveries. He and Jaiswal put together an unbroken 247-run stand for the third wicket after India A lost Sai Sudharsan (11) and Devdutt Padikkal (0) early on Day 4. Their partnership took India A to 282/2 in 52.4 overs.
Yashasvi Jaiswal also discussed the technical adjustments he made to counter the movement, explaining that he preferred to play close to his body and move towards the delivery. The opener revealed that he changed his initial stance during the match to deal with the conditions.
"Mainly, in my mind, the closer I play to the body, the better it is. Go to the ball and play. If you look at the first innings, my initial stance was behind. Then I changed again. If the bowler is not bowling fast, then you can manage the seam movement. If I get a loose ball, I will try to score runs. Rest is just an effort," Jaiswal said.
"After that, when the wicket gets better or the ball gets old, it's easy to make runs. I won't say it's easy, but you can play good shots. So it was a lot of fun and it feels good to play here. It's a very different experience," he added.
Earlier, India A scored 346 in their first innings after New Zealand A elected to field. Captain and wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel led the batting effort with 105 off 171 deliveries. Devdutt Padikkal contributed 80, while Akash Deep scored 68 and Sai Sudharsan added 41.