"When you talk about Virender Sehwag, it's not just 2-3 games.."- Pragyan Ojha warns Yashasvi Jaiswal

Former left-arm off-spinner Pragyan Ojha who has experienced 24 Test matches for the Indian national team, sees glimpses of India’s one of most aggressive opening batters Virender Sehwag in the 22-year-old prodigy Yashasvi Jaiswal who has been on a role in the on-going 5-match Test series between India and England.

Ojha’s comments came in the light of Yashasvi Jaiswal’s sensational maiden Test double Hundred in the 1st innings of the 2nd Test here in Vishakhapatnam. The Mumbai batter has carried on the form he hinted during India’s 28-run loss in the 1st Hyderabad Test, where he missed out on a century by just 20 runs in the 2nd innings, with India posting 436 runs on the back of a few more eighties from KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja.

In the 2nd innings, however, it was as if Indian batters had forgotten how to bat on their pitches and that was not applied to any particular batter, but every single one in the line-up. Rohit Sharma and co. were anyways under pressure after Ollie Pope brought teardrops with his 196-run and instead of playing counter-attacking cricket, the Indians chose to let the pressure build on.

It resulted in the debut-making English off-spinner Tom Hartley registering a 7-wicket haul and not letting any Indian batter even touch the 40-run mark. As India finds their backs against the wall in the 2nd Test under further pressure of staging a comeback, it is the stellar might of baby-faced Yashasvi Jaiswal that has led from the front and helped India have a stronger grip in the 2nd Test.

The 22-year-old who is playing only his second International Test match on home soil, smacked more than half of India’s runs on day 1 with his emphatic 179 knock. It helped Jaiswal overtake Mohammad Azharuddin as the highest-scoring Indian on a single day of a Test match with the latter scoring 175 against England at Manchester in the year 1990.

On day 2, Yashasvi Jaiswal converted his 179 into a maiden double hundred which included 17 fours and 7 sixes. He could have carried on, had he not decided to step out against James Anderson and play a glory shot for a six, which eventually was caught by Johnny Bairstow.

“This Is Just The Start”, Pragyan Ojha On Yashasvi Jaiswal’s Comparison With Viru

One of the notable things about his 200 was that he reached the milestone with back-to-back boundaries. He reached the 190s with a six and became India’s 3rd youngest double centurion in Test with a sweeping four off debutant Shoaib Bashir.

That reminded Pragyan Ojha of Virender Sehwag who was also world-famous for frequently doing exactly what Jaiswal did on the second day.

“It can be said that he is playing fearless cricket. However, if you talk about Virender Sehwag, it’s not about one, two or three matches. You talk about how his entire career has been. A player steps out or plays attackingly if he knows he can handle wherever the ball is pitched. That’s why Yashasvi plays like that. He completed his century with a six.” – Pragyan Ojha said on Jiocinema.  

“So this is just the start. We will see how he plays going forward. Sehwag did that consistently for many years. So I feel it’s a little early.” – Ojha concluded.