"Amazing camaraderie": Jaiswal praises skipper Shubman Gill after memorable opening day in Leeds
Leeds [UK] June 21 (ANI): India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal expressed his admiration for newly-appointed Test captain Shubman Gill following their crucial 129-run partnership on Day 1 of the first Test against England at Headingley. Jaiswal, who smashed a fluent 101 off 159 balls, lauded Gill's calmness and composure at the crease, describing their time together in the middle as 'amazing.'
Speaking at the post-day press conference, the 23-year-old left-hander said, 'We have spoken a lot in the middle and we were just trying to make sure that we play session by session and try as many (runs) as we can get. Especially when there is a loose ball, we try to make sure that we put it in the right places.'
Jaiswal and Gill laid a solid foundation for India after being put into bat, with their partnership steering the visitors past the 200-run mark. While Jaiswal fell shortly after Tea, Gill remained unbeaten on 127 at stumps, showcasing excellent temperament in his captaincy debut.
Praising the partnership and the leadership on display, Jaiswal added, 'We really enjoyed together. There was amazing camaraderie between us. So, it was amazing to bat with him and he batted really well. The way he has been very calm and composed... I loved batting with him and enjoying under him as well.'
The young opener's knock, studded with sixteen boundaries and a six, was instrumental in giving India early control of the match.
With Gill and vice-captain Rishabh Pant (65*) still at the crease, India will look to build on the strong platform on Day 2 as they finished Day 1 with 359/3.
In the process, Gill crossed the 2,000-run milestone in Test cricket, while Pant breached the 3,000-run mark.
England captain Ben Stokes, who managed to break through, finishing with 2/43. The only other English success came via Brydon Carse, who ended with figures of 1/70.
India's 359-run effort surpassed their previous best opening-day score in England, 338/7 at Edgbaston in 2022. The last time a touring team piled on as many runs on Day 1 in England was South Africa's 362/4 at The Oval back in 2003. (ANI)
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Clear message from Jaiswal and Gill at Leeds: Indian batting story never ends
Quite mature for his age and unusually silent for someone so successful, Yashasvi Jaiswal was once asked by his coach at Rajasthan Royals, the Sri Lankan great Kumara Sangakkara, to loosen up and smile more. Jaiswal would answer matter-of-factly: 'Whenever a situation demands, I do laugh and laugh openly.' At Headingley, on the first day of the India-England five-Test series, Jaiswal did laugh openly. Actually, he went hysterical in the celebration of his first hundred in England, an inning that sent out a strong message to the world: the Indian batting story never ends. A little over a month after Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli had retired from Test cricket, the news that sent the cricket-crazy nation of a billion-plus fans into a pall of gloom, Jaiswal scored 101 in 159 balls with 16 fours and one six. New captain Shubman Gill compiled an imperious 127 from 175 balls and vice-captain Rishabh Pant had a typically freewheeling 65 from 102 balls, both remaining unbeaten at close. Gill also joined an illustrious list of Indians — Vijay Hazare, Sunil Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar and Virat Kohli — to embrace leadership duties with a statement century, heralding the start of an era. He was in a hurry to court history, scoring at a fast clip, almost getting on with the business of galloping to the greatness goal at a strike rate of 72-plus. He became the 33rd male cricketer to score a hundred on Test captaincy debut. Jaiswal opens the innings like Rohit, and Shubman has taken Kohli's No.4. At least on the first match day after the two big retirements, no one was missed by anyone as India finished at 359 for three. After the day's play, coach Gautam Gambhir was smiling — he, too, grins only when the situation demands. FINALLY A 100 FOR SHUBMAN GILL AT SENA Sorry for underestimating you #INDvsENGTest #INDvENG — BABA YAGA💎 (@169_Melbourne) June 20, 2025 Considering that Indian openers in England rarely do well, and laying the foundation is of utmost importance, Jaiswal's innings was unique and significant. It was an innings that had Kohli's aggression and Sharma's grace. For the 23-year-old who made his Test debut just two years ago, it marked an incredible journey, from living in a tent at Mumbai's Azad maidan with the ground staff to becoming a batsman with the talent, runs and the promise of filling the giant void left behind by the batting greats of Kohli and Rohit's stature. In these parts, they had heard about Jaiswal but never seen him live. When England toured India in 2023, Jaiswal scored two double hundreds. It was the series Kohli missed, but wasn't missed. In England, his senior opening partner, Rohit, too wasn't around but Jaiswal was confident, he was dismissive of the entire England bowling department. There was no wistful looking back, there was overwhelming optimism about Indian cricket's future. Jaiswal, like Virat and Rohit, was once again underlining the fact that he is India's 'day or night, red or white ball' all-format player. Weeks after being among IPL's leading run-getters, with 500-plus runs at an average of over 40, Jaiswal in whites was equally at home and eye-pleasing as well. It wasn't that he was totally transformed, it was just that he made a few nuanced tweaks to his batting. His style had changed but the soul hadn't. Replaying his first three boundaries would help to understand. The first came in the first over of the day. It was all wrist, him guiding a dangerous looking Chris Woakes swinging ball past fourth slip for a four. The crowd and the English players let out their 'ohs' and 'ahs' — trying to convey that this was a streaky strike. The next Jaiswal boundary came up in Woakes's second over. This time, he didn't guide, but pushed the ball with authority past mid-off. Another boundary. This time, no one dared to doubt the correctness of the shot. There was the usual light-regimented English applause from the stands. His third boundary was against the new-ball bowler Brydon Carse, easily the sharpest in the first session. The tall 29-year-old banged the ball short outside off-stump. Jaiswal couldn't stop his hands from reaching the ball. He cut it fiercely to the point boundary. This wasn't good old classic batting but the modern method of making runs in Test matches by new-age all-format players. Even for the rest of the innings, he was cautious but not bottled up. Minor batting setbacks didn't see him abandon his trusted batting approach. 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