'He scored truckloads of runs in First Class cricket playing for Mumbai and West Zone' - Aakash Chopra extols Yashasvi Jaiswal ahead of latter's Test debut

Young batting prodigy Yashasvi Jaiswal is all set to make his Test debut for team India in the first Test match against the West Indies on Wednesday, July 12, at the Windsor Park Sports Stadium in Dominica. India will play two Test matches during their multi-format series tour to the Caribbean. 

Jaiswal received his Test call-up after consistently scoring runs in domestic cricket while playing for Mumbai and West Zone. The 21-year-old finished the IPL 2023 season as the fifth-highest run scorer, with 625 runs from 14 games at an average of 48.07 and a strike rate of 163.61.

He has been impressive in first-class cricket as well, scoring 1845 runs in 15 matches at an average of 80.21 and a strike rate of 67.48, with nine tons and two half-centuries.

While previewing the opening Test match between India and the Windies on JioCinema, former India opener Aakash Chopra lavished praise on the young batting sensation. The 45-year-old opined that the teenager did not get the spot on the back of his recent outings in the IPL, claiming that he was outstanding in both the lucrative league and first-class cricket for Mumbai and West Zone.

“The good thing about Yashasvi Jaiswal's selection is that it's not just on the back of IPL runs. Yes, he was absolutely phenomenal and scintillating in this edition of the IPL, but then he scored a mountain of runs—truckloads of runs—in First Class cricket playing for Mumbai and West Zone," Chopra said.

Jaiswal, over a period of time, will really do well: Chopra

Chopra went on to praise Jaiswal, saying that he has been outstanding wherever he has played. However, he admitted that playing Test cricket will not be easy for him, but his game awareness will somewhat assist him. 

“In fact, wherever he has played, whichever team he has represented so far, he has scored a lot of runs, and therefore, just the understanding of playing the day format, understanding the pulse of what is required of a batsman in the day format, will hold him in good stead. It won't be easy, and it won't be a cake walk, for a simple reason that there is a gulf between First Class cricket and Test cricket when we talk about the standards. But I think Yashasvi Jaiswal, over a period of time, will really do well," the former cricketer added.