Former England captain Alastair Cook has all praise for India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, who scored an excellent 161 against Australia in Perth in the opening Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
“We’ve seen his celebration enough here, but it’s more enjoyable against Australia than England, certainly,” Cook said on TNT Sports, giving a reference to Jaiswal’s phenomenal run in the Test series against England, where he amassed a staggering 712 runs.
Cook lauds the confidence of young Jaiswal, who even sledged Starc.
“And sledging Mitchell Stack, saying at a certain stage, I think he wasn’t on 100, he wasn’t on anything on a major score, but he’s telling him you’re bowling slow,” he said.
India’s Yashasvi Jaiswal, left, celebrates his century as teammate India’s KL Rahul applauds on the third day of the first cricket test between Australia and India in Perth, Australia. (AP)
“And I’ve faced Mitchell Starc and he certainly doesn’t bowl slow. And if he was bowling slow, I’d keep my mouth shut and not wind him up, but have the confidence to do that as a 22-year-old.
“I think he scored the most runs as any Indian player up to after 15 test matches at the top of the order, which I’ll keep saying it, no one else believes me, it’s the hardest place to bat. What a classy player he is.”
Cook on India hammering Australia
The former England captain said he was pleasantly surprised to see how Australia got hammered by 295 runs in the Perth Test.
“I was surprised. I was surprised that India have gone there and hammered Australia in what normally is a very hard place to go and play cricket, Perth. I know it’s not the WACA. I know it’s the new stadium, but still, historically, Australia don’t lose many games there,” he said.
Australia’s captain Pat Cummins, second left, has a chat with teammate Josh Hazlewood, second right, on the second day of the first cricket test between Australia and India in Perth, Australia, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Trevor Collens)
“I thought India was so brave. I thought that first, you know, the win the toss and bat on that wicket, you know, you look there, even though there’s only 150 they got, you know, the thought process to say, we’re going to take Australia on there. We know it’s going to be hard, but we think it’s going to be hard for both sides only, and then it’ll be a one-inning game.
“You know, I think most captains would have bowled first, certainly would have done and probably got the end of a bad result, like normally in Australia. But India took it on brilliantly. It was just an all-round fantastic performance. You think bowled up 150, you think we’re struggling here, but to bounce back when you’ve got Boomer up with the new ball on those kinds of wickets, he’s always going to be outstanding and backed up by team.
“And just think of how brave they were. They didn’t bother playing Ashwin who’s got 500 Test wickets. They’ve kind of played a couple of like, not makes you spinners, but you know, I thought Ashwin would have been outstanding, but you know, great thinking by them.
“And isn’t it nice to see Australia get thrashed?”
