Perth One is the next big thing. The other, a makeshift opener, is a struggling talent trying to re-establish himself in the Test team. But together, Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul joined the league of India’s opening legends with a partnership for the ages on Day 2 of the Perth Test against Australia.
The two put on an unbroken 172-run stand to cement India’s dominant position in a match that could well set the tone for the five-Test tour. And they did it by carefully learning their lessons from the manic first innings, in which the visitors were bundled out for 150, and putting them into practice quickly. As a result, Australia -- already facing bruised bodies and broken egos after India’s pace battery sent them packing for 104 -- are now on the mat with India effectively 218 ahead for no loss.
Australia has never been an easy country for openers, especially those from India. To understand how rare and incredible Saturday’s achievement is, sample this: the last 100-run opening partnership for India in Australia came back in January 2004 when Virender Sehwag and Aakash Chopra put on 123 at Sydney.
Going all the way back to 1948, when India first toured Australia, there have been only six century opening stands for the visitors. Leading the way, but maybe not for long given that Jaiswal and Rahul will pick this up on Sunday morning, is the 191-run opening stand between Sunil Gavaskar and Krishnamachari Srikkanth in 1986.
{{/usCountry}}Going all the way back to 1948, when India first toured Australia, there have been only six century opening stands for the visitors. Leading the way, but maybe not for long given that Jaiswal and Rahul will pick this up on Sunday morning, is the 191-run opening stand between Sunil Gavaskar and Krishnamachari Srikkanth in 1986.
{{/usCountry}}It was also only the second occasion when India openers managed a century stand in the second innings. The first and only time was in Melbourne in 1981 when Gavaskar and Chetan Chauhan put on 165.
That isn’t all. This stand is already the eighth-best first-wicket partnership by any visiting openers in Australia in nearly 150 years of Test cricket, and the two are not done yet.
The Perth pitch changed character and colour on Day 2 and that did help the batters, but it still required both openers to show discipline as the Aussies continued to attack the same areas they did in the first innings.
The manner in which Rahul and Jaiswal adapted showed how focussed they were. There truly was a sense of wanting to achieve something great for the team -- evidenced by how Rahul was always on hand to counsel Jaiswal whenever the youngster ran out of patience.
Just before the Test, bowling coach Morne Morkel spoke about the blueprints the Indian team had tried to put in place for the series. “Partnerships are going to be crucial,” he said. “Protecting the partnership. Getting through the new ball. Once the ball is softer, not to give it away, soft wicket.” Jaiswal and Rahul ticked off on each of those points with dedication and determination.
Rahul has perhaps been guilty of giving things away far too many times in the past, but here he played the role of a senior to perfection. So much about a partnership is about the equation shared between the two individuals and here they found the right balance. Neither was overbearing but only stepping up when the other needed him to.
Another important part of the partnership was the manner in which they trusted their defence. The 100-run stand came up in 229 deliveries, and that too was a sign of them recognising the challenge in front of them. Too often in the recent past have we seen India’s batters taking the aggressive route regardless of the conditions or the attack. But better sense prevailed against one of the best bowling attacks in world cricket.
As the day wore on, Australia’s shoulders started drooping. The innings had started with three slips and a gully. It ended with one solitary slip and a well spread out field. It was only at this point that both batters started playing a few more shots.
The result of the partnership is that Australia will have to most probably break some records of their own if they want to win the game. The last time the hosts successfully chased down a fourth-innings target above 250 on home soil was at the SCG in 2006, when they were just two wickets down upon reaching 288 against South Africa in Ricky Ponting’s 100th Test.
But that was a different age -- in Perth 2024, to get close to whatever target India set, Australia will need their struggling batters to take a page out of the book that Jaiswal and Rahul were reading.