Yashasvi Jaiswal’s valiant knock kept India in the hunt for a while in the fourth Test against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 series at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Monday.
Jaiswal, with an innings of 84 off 208 balls, helped India reach 112/3 at tea after going into lunch at 33/3. However, the Indian cricket team lost seven wickets in the final session to go down in the MCG Test by 184 runs and trail the five-match series 2-1.
Back-to-back half-centuries for Yashasvi Jaiswal!#AUSvIND | #MilestoneMoment | @nrmainsurance pic.twitter.com/Vqr1VqMp2C
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 30, 2024
The 22-year-old left-handed opener, retained by the Rajasthan Royals for the IPL 2025 season, capped the year with 1478 runs - the second most by an Indian batter and the most by an Indian opener, breaking Virender Sehwag's record of 1462 set in 2008.
He played 15 matches, hitting nine 50s and three centuries, including two double tons against England in February and a 161 at Perth in the India vs Australia Test 2024-25 series opener.
Sachin Tendulkar is the only Indian to score more than 1500 runs in a calendar year, amassing 1562 runs in 2010. Virender Sehwag (1462 in 2008 and 1422 in 2010) and Sunil Gavaskar (1407 in 1979) follow Jaiswal in the top-five list.
Yashasvi Jaiswal is also the second-highest Test run-scorer this year, trailing only England’s Joe Root, who has 1556 runs from 17 matches.
India bowled out Australia at 234 in the first session of the day, setting up a chase of 340. However, Jaiswal lost his opening partner Rohit Sharma early in the innings. KL Rahul and Virat Kohli also went back to the pavilion soon after.
Jaiswal, known for having a knack for destroying the opposition bowlers, played a measured innings, taking 128 balls to reach his half-century. However, wickets tumbled around him after Rishabh Pant was caught in the deep with India at 121. Jaiswal was the seventh Indian wicket to fall at 141 and the tail eventually could not survive the remaining overs against the experienced Australian bowling attack.
The loss was also a blow to India's hopes of qualifying for the World Test Championship 2023-25 Final.
India will now have to win their final game against Australia and hope Australia do not win a game in their two-match series against Sri Lanka. South Africa booked their place in the final last week, courtesy of a win over Pakistan on Sunday.
