It was a Duleep Trophy debut to remember for young Yashasvi Jaiswal, who scored his maiden first-class double hundred in the tournament’s quarter-final fixture against North East Zone in Chennai.
Playing for the West Zone, Yashasvi put up a stunning display of patience, grit and hard work as he opened the innings alongside his Mumbai teammate Prithvi Shaw, ending Day 1 of the four-day match on 55*. On Day 2, the duo’s 206-run first-wicket partnership laid the foundation for a strong first-innings total as both Yashasvi and Shaw got to their respective centuries. While Shaw played the aggressor, scoring his 113 runs in just 121 balls, Yashasvi took his time to get his eye in. But once he was settled, the southpaw unleashed some magnificent strokes off his willow that saw him smashing 22 fours and 3 sixes en route to his double ton.
Watch the exact moment when Yashasvi reached the milestone:
View this post on Instagram
Shaw’s departure brought the West Zone captain Ajinkya Rahane to the crease. With an already set Jaiswal at one end, Ajinkya too joined the party and the duo added another 300+ runs for the 2nd wicket. Jaiswal fell after the team had crossed the 500-run mark, and at 590/2, skipper Rahane finally declared the innings.
In response, North East Zone were bundled out for 235 in their first innings. West Zone came back to score another 268/5 runs in their second innings, and eventually qualified for the semi-final on the basis of their first-innings lead to wrap up the encounter on Sunday.