He made batting look ridiculously easy in the third innings, with a marauding double ton that included a world record-equalling 12 sixes. But Yashasvi Jaiswal feels Test cricket is "hard", and he is resolute about gritting it out. The 22-year-old was one of the architects of India's historic 434-run victory in the third Test against England in Rajkot. (As It Happened | More Cricket News)
The unbeaten double hundred (214 not out off 236 balls) was Jaiswal's second in as many Tests, and instrumental in steering India to a daunting 430 for 4 declared in their second innings, setting England a massive target of 557 runs.
The southpaw also entered the record books by hitting the highest number of sixes (22) in a Test series ever, with two matches still to go.
"Test cricket is hard, but I thought that when I'm in there, I need to give my 100 per cent," Jaiswal said after India surged to a 2-1 lead in the five-game series.
"I'm just trying. Whenever I'm set, I try to make it big. Because in Test cricket you never know, when you're playing well you have to make it big."
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Dissecting his marathon knock, Jaiswal said he tried to play session by session and also had to overcome a back problem during the innings.
"It was pretty difficult for me because initially I wasn't getting runs. So had to play the session, and get set. That's when I felt I could score runs.
"After a while my back was not good. I didn't want to go out (of the field) but since it was too much, I went out. Today when I came, I wanted to make sure that I take the game forward and bat till the end," he said.
The lad from Suriya, Uttar Pradesh said his role as an opener is to give the team a good start.
"I felt there was something in the wicket and the ball was hard. For me, it is important to give teams a good start so it was key to play long," Jaiswal said.
"I tell myself whenever I get set, I need to score well because you can get out anytime. My seniors have said to make it count."
He was also inspired by the knocks of captain Rohit Sharma and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja in the first innings.
"The way Rohit (Sharma) bhai and (Ravindra Jadeja) Jaddu bhai played, that motivated me a lot. Their passion determined me to play session by session. I thought inside the dugout that when I go out there I should also make it count," Jaiswal said.
With the series poised at 2-1, the fourth Test will be played in Ranchi, starting February 23.
(With PTI inputs)
