After three fantastic Test matches between England and Australia at The Ashes, Test cricket is witnessing a rather one-sided contest in Dominica as Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal continue to treat the West Indies bowling attack like punching bags. Jaiswal and Rohit – India's newest opening pair in Tests – scored centuries each as India solidified their dominance, reaching 312/2 at stumps on Day 2, ahead of the West Indies by 162 runs. If they way they batted on Day 2 – losing just 2 wickets and playing out 2 wicketless sessions – the West Indies are in for an equally long Day 3 as India look to bat themselves to victory.
In the process, not only did Jaiswal become the 17th Indian opener to score a Test century on debut and Rohit his second away from India, but the duo even created history with their mammoth partnership of 229 runs. With their double-century partnership, Rohit and Jaiswal registered the highest opening partnership for India against West Indies in Tests, overtaking the previous highest of 159 between Virender Sehwag and Wasim Jaffer way back in the 2006 Gros Islet Test.
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Next to them is another legendary pair – Sunil Gavaskar and Chetan Chauhan's 153 in Mumbai back in 1978, followed by a 136-run stand between Gavaskar himself and Anshuman Gaikwad in 1976. Rohit and Jaiswal's marathon stand also brought up India's first 100-run partnership for the opening wicket in 23 Test innings. Furthermore, this was the first time in the history of Test cricket that India took the lead in their first innings without losing a wicket.
{{/usCountry}}Next to them is another legendary pair – Sunil Gavaskar and Chetan Chauhan's 153 in Mumbai back in 1978, followed by a 136-run stand between Gavaskar himself and Anshuman Gaikwad in 1976. Rohit and Jaiswal's marathon stand also brought up India's first 100-run partnership for the opening wicket in 23 Test innings. Furthermore, this was the first time in the history of Test cricket that India took the lead in their first innings without losing a wicket.
{{/usCountry}}But while the partnership was finally broken with Rohit departing quickly after his 10th Test ton, Jaiswal batted the whole day to achieve a unique feat. The opener broke the record for the most balls faced by an India debutant. Jaiswal, 21, showed great composure during his innings, switching gears with ease – he took 16 balls to get off the mark and shouldered arms to the first five balls from Jason Holder on Day 2. But as Jaiswal played himself in and got more comfortable with the pace and bounce of the wicket, it took him just 31 balls to accelerate from 70 to 100. Jaiswal's century also made him the first Indian batter to score a 100 on debut outside Asia after 21 years after Virender Sehwag's 101 against South Africa in Bloemfontein.
For Rohit, this was only his 2nd Test century away from India – to go with his 127 at The Oval Test against England in 2021 – during which he entered a very special achievement. The moment Rohit scored his half-century, he established himself as one of India's finest openers as he surpassed the legendary Gavaskar and Sehwag by registering his 102nd fifty, next only to the great Sachin Tendulkar, who leads the pack with 120 50-plus scores.