India cricketer Yashasvi Jaiswal has taken Test cricket like fish to water in the ongoing game against the West Indies. He is currently unbeaten on 143 after two days of play in the Test match and looks set to scale more records in his debut Test itself. Interestingly, the left-handed youngster has reached the top of the list among Indians in an amazing record going past even the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Mohammad Azharuddin among many others.
Jaiswal has so far faced 350 deliveries for his unbeaten 143 with 14 fours to his name. These are the most balls faced by an Indian on Test debut. Former India skipper Mohammad Azharuddin was at the top of this list previously having played 322 balls in his debut Test in 1984. He had scored 110 runs against England in his first red-ball game.
Another former India skipper Sourav Ganguly is next in this list. He had put on a stunning show at Lord’s scoring 131 runs off a massive 301 deliveries back in 1996. In the same Test match, India current coach Rahul Dravid had made his debut and though he missed out on a well deserved century, he faced 267 balls to score 95 runs. Like Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma also made his Test debut against the West Indies back in 2013 and he also faced 301 balls to smash a stunning 177 at the Eden Gardens.
Yashasvi Jaiswal now has a great chance of making it to the top 10 list of most balls faced in debut Test. Alastair Cook is at the 10th place in this aspect facing 403 balls in his first Test while Devon Conway is just above him with 411 deliveries. Jaiswal also has a chance to score a stunning double century and become the first Indian player to breach the 200-run mark in the longest format of the game.