Yashasvi Jaiswal first-ever Indian in 91-year-old Test history to achieve unique feat with debut century vs West Indies

Yashasvi Jaiswal rewrote the history books by becoming first-ever Indian opener to score a Test century on debut away from home. The left-hander, who was handed the Test cap by captain Rohit Sharma on Wednesday, reached the landmark on Day 2 of the first Test against West Indies at Windsor Park in Dominica. Jaiswal got a single off fellow debutant Alick Athanaze to complete his century in the 70th over of India’s innings late on Thursday. He got there off 215 balls.

Overall, Jaiswal became the 17th Indian to score a century on Test debut and the third designated opener. However, he is the first Indian opener to get to three figures in his maiden Test away from home. Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw had registered their debut Test centuries at Mohali and Rajkot against Australia and West Indies respectively.

Jaiswal is only the fifth Indian overall to score a hundred on Test debut overseas. The first to do so was Abbas Ali Baig against England in 1959. The others are Surinder Amarnath at Auckland in 1976, Pravin Amre against South Africa in Durban in 1992, Sourav Ganguly against England at Lord’s in 1996, and Virender Sehwag against South Africa at Bloemfontein in 2001.

At 21 years and 196 days, Jaiswal also became the fourth youngest Indian to score a hundred in his first Test after Prithvi Shaw, Abbas Ali Baig, and Gundappa Viswanath.

Jaiswal celebrated the century in grand fashion. He took his helmet off just after completing the run, jumped in the air and let out a loud cry. The smile on his face was greeted with a standing ovation from the entire Indian dressing room.

He then swiftly ran towards captain and non-striker Rohit Sharma, who had a gigantic smile on his face. Rohit too played his part in the partnership. In reply to West Indies’ 150, Rohit and Jaiswal put together the highest opening stand by an Indan pair in the Caribbean islands to bring the hosts down to their knees.

Interestingly, Rohit had also scored a century in his first Test against the West Indies but that was at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata in 2013.

Before Jaiswal, the last Indian to score a Test century on debut was Shreyas Iyer against New Zealand in 2021.

Jaiswal, who took his time to get off the mark on Day 1, has hit 11 fours in his innings so far.

It has been a rather subdued innings from the Mumbai cricketer, in complete contrast to the ones the world has witnessed in the IPL. He did play a couple of false shots on Day 1 when he tried to hit off-spinner Rahkeem Cornwall against the turn but since then, it has been an exhibition of patience.