India, Oct. 10 -- In all levels of red-ball cricket, coaches expect their openers to bat time, preferably give the first hour, if not the first session, to the bowlers, and to bat big. Yashasvi Jaiswal ticked all these boxes and more on Friday.

By nature, the 23-year-old left-hander is an aggressive batter - his Test strike-rate is an impressive 66.22 after 25 games - but he is not one-dimensional or single-gear. His first Test knock was the earliest proof that he could graft and grind out a long innings; Jaiswal batted for nearly eight and a half hours and negotiated 387 deliveries while carving out 171 against the West Indies in Roseau in July 2023.

Several of his subsequent impactful essays have been entertainingly rapid, though in t...