Yashasvi Jaiswal became only the second Indian batter, after Little Master Sunil Gavaskar, to score 700-plus runs in a Test series during Day 1 of the Dharamsala Test against England, on Thursday (March 7). Jaiswal has been in superb form in the ongoing five Tests, at home, with two double tons and had 655 runs under his belt heading into the fifth and final game in Dharamsala. He scored a blistering 57 on the opening day to take his run-tally past the 700-run mark in the series. In addition, Jaiswal became the fastest Indian to reach 1,000 runs in Tests, in just 16 innings.

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In Indian cricket history, only Gavaskar has surpassed the 700-run mark (twice) in a Test series. Thus, Jaiswal continued to take giant strides in his brief red-ball career. Following Day 1 of the Dharamsala Test, former Indian pacer Zaheer Khan lavished huge praise on the left-hander, saying ‘he is not abusing his form’.

‘He’s raised everyone’s expectations which he will have to live up to’

Speaking to Sports18, Zaheer said, “The hunger to score runs is something which is very evident, for a player to have this kind of approach so early in his test career is something which gets everyone excited right now when you’re looking at him and the way he’s approaching the game.”

He further opined, “That potential is going to be immense. He’s raised everyone’s expectations which he will have to live up to, and that’s gonna add more pressure. But there are a lot of good signs when you’re looking at him the way he’s approaching the game, he’s not abusing his form.”

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Zak reckoned that Jaiswal is showing the right signs of consistency, adding that the 22-year-old has got an opportunity to build a reputation of someone who scores big runs on a consistent basis. 

He added, “He just wanted to consolidate his form, not take the form for granted is something which is very important. So he’s showing all those right kind of signs for these kinds of performances to come more consistently in future. These kinds of series as an individual, you don’t have many in your career. So he’s got a great opportunity to build himself this kind of repetition where it’s just going to consistently score these kind of runs.”

Notably, Jaiswal is the top-scorer in the ongoing England series, with 712 runs (and has one inning in hand). 

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