NEW DELHI: India’s legendary spinner Anil Kumble lavished high praise on opener Yashasvi Jaiswal after the young left-hander’s unbeaten 173 lit up the opening day of the second Test against West Indies at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Friday. The former India captain went a step further — tipping Jaiswal to turn his marathon innings into a historic triple hundred on Saturday.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!“Jaiswal is just getting better and better day by day,” Kumble said on JioHotstar’s Amul Cricket Live. “We’ve spoken about his hunger and his attitude toward building big innings, not just for himself but for the team. Even in the previous game, he got off to a good start but was dismissed early, so he’s certainly made up for that here.”
The 23-year-old southpaw, who has already amassed almost 2500 runs in just 26 Tests with seven centuries and 12 fifties, batted through the entire first day. His 173 came off 253 balls, decorated with 22 fours, and put India in command at 318/2 at stumps.
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Will Yashasvi Jaiswal score a triple century in his innings?
Kumble, who has seen several modern greats from close quarters, lauded Jaiswal’s temperament and ability to convert starts into monumental knocks. “Throughout his short career, he has shown that he doesn’t waste opportunities like these. Once he’s in, he makes it count — and that’s wonderful to see,” he said.The veteran also pointed out Jaiswal’s rare consistency in producing big hundreds — five of his seven centuries have been scores over 150. Only Graeme Smith and Don Bradman have comparable numbers before turning 24.With the pitch flattening out and West Indies’ bowlers already looking fatigued, Kumble urged the youngster to aim even higher. “He’s still out there, and he can go on to score big runs tomorrow… Jaiswal now has a great opportunity, not just for a double hundred, but maybe even a triple hundred,” Kumble added.If Jaiswal does convert his unbeaten 173 into a triple century, he would become only the third Indian in history to do so — joining Virender Sehwag and Karun Nair.
