I was just sleeping, waking up, and working; it’s a great feeling: India batter Yashasvi Jaiswal

PTI

Visakhapatnam, February 5

If Yashasvi Jaiswal is happy slamming his first Test double hundred in only his sixth match, he is happier just being able to sleep, wake up, and work.

Jaiswal lays great emphasis on routine and goes about his job in a manner that suits his internal clock, leading to good health and better productivity in whatever he does in the field.

The 22-year-old left-handed India batter has become the toast of the nation after slamming a magnificent double hundred against England in the second Test, which the hosts won by 106 runs here on Monday to level the five-match series 1-1.

Jaiswal came close to scoring a double ton in the West Indies last year, only to miss the landmark by 19 runs.

“The last time, when I had scored 171 (against the West Indies), I wanted to score the double-hundred, but it didn't happen. I always think that if I focus on my daily routine, the runs will come.

“The process is very important in my life, whatever discipline I follow. What time I sleep, what I eat, how well do I practice. I think if all of this is maintained well, the performance will stay good as well,” Jaiswal said after the second Test during an interaction with JioCinema.

The hardworking youngster added, “When I go to the ground, I feel confident because I know the hard work that I have put in, and I just need to go there and express myself.

“I always try to play for the team. In the last match, they had told me I could play as many shots as I wanted, and I played differently. Here, I thought the wicket was great and if I stayed patient, I could get a big innings.

“We lost wickets initially, so I thought I should take responsibility and play as deep as I could.”

At 22 years and 36 days, Jaiswal last Saturday became the third youngest Indian after Vinod Kambli and Sunil Gavaskar to score a Test double ton.

Jaiswal prefers to keep things simple and avoids social media. On his daily routine, he said, “I get no time (to scroll Instagram). We go (for practice and matches) in the morning, come back by evening, and then sleep for recovery.

“For the first three days, I was just sleeping, waking up, and working. It's a great feeling. I am very happy that I have been able to do this. In the first three days of this match, I went out in the morning to bat and I enjoyed it a lot because I knew it was important to enjoy this moment.”

With his fine run of form, Jaiswal has vindicated the faith shown in him by the team management.

Asked about his conversations with the coach and captain, he said, “With Rohit, Rahul sir, and Vikram sir, the discussion was that if any batter gets set in their innings, he should play till the end. This was my attempt as well.

“We all believe in each other and have been working hard together. Whoever is performing on that day, they should try to complete the job for the team.”

During his fluent knock that came off just 290 balls, Jaiswal smashed 19 fours and seven sixes and helped India to post a challenging first-innings total. He also attaches great importance to fielding.

“I have a process for my fielding. It's a crucial part of playing, across all formats. I am working very hard on my fielding to contribute to the team. The more I practice, the better I will get.”

On his thoughts while facing the peerless James Anderson for the first time, Jaiswal said, “I wasn't thinking much. When I saw the wicket, my first thought was to see how it is playing. Rohit and I were discussing the same as I played Anderson's first over.

“Slowly, I understood how the wicket was behaving and where I could score my runs.”

Jaiswal also said that batting great Sachin Tendulkar, who is his idol, congratulated him and asked him to keep working hard.

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