Despite battling cramps in both hands, Yashasvi Jaiswal gave the Indian cricket team a solid start in the first of the five-match India vs England 2025 Test series with a gritty 101 at Headingley on Friday.

The 23-year-old opener, who represents Rajasthan Royals in the IPL, reached his fifth Test hundred - and third against England - in 144 balls, hitting 16 fours and one six along the way.

Shortly before reaching his century, Jaiswal was given multiple treatments on his right forearm from the physio and appeared to be in considerable discomfort while batting in the 90s.

"Whenever I make a century, wherever it is, I enjoy it. I love it as all my centuries are special. But of course, there are some special moments…first (century in England)," Jaiswal said in the post-day press meet.

The hundred made Yashasvi only the fifth Indian to score a century in his first Test innings in England after Murali Vijay, Vijay Manjrekar, Sourav Ganguly and Sandeep Patil. This was also Yashasvi’s third century on foreign soil.

Fresh off a successful IPL 2025 campaign as Rajasthan Royals’ leading run-scorer, Yashasvi spoke about recalibrating his approach to meet the demands of Test cricket after weeks of T20 action.

"Challenges will always be there in cricket, just that it will be different in different stages. I was trying to trust my process and mindset and was trying to express myself.

"To switch mentally is very important as in how you think or in which environment you are in. It helps you to enjoy the game when you are playing under pressure,” he said.

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Yashasvi opened the batting along with KL Rahul, and the duo forged a 91-run stand for the first wicket to give India a steady start. He then went on to craft a crucial 129-run stand with skipper Shubman Gill for the third wicket to steer India into a commanding position.

"(Gill and I) were speaking a lot in the middle and we were trying to take it session by session and try and get as many runs as possible," Yashasvi said. "There was an amazing camaraderie between us. It was amazing to bat with him and the way he batted, calm and composed, I enjoyed it a lot and it was helping me."

While further expanding on the strategy against the England bowlers, Yashasvi said: "The strategy was to put away the bad balls, time and place the shots well. I was just thinking about handling the situation, where the England team was keeping fielders or in which areas they were bowling. I was just trying to bat accordingly. I was batting as per the needs of the team."

Jaiswal credited his success to thoughtful preparation, particularly during India A games and intra-squad matches in Beckenham, where Team India coach Gautam Gambhir’s inputs proved invaluable.

“Our preparations were good while playing for India A and at Beckenham (intra-squad),” he said. “We were discussing about playing a long innings after getting a start.

"We got a lot of inputs from Gautam (Gambhir) sir. So, it was nice to come to such a nice ground and perform," the left-hander added.