Some of his sixes were powerfully struck": Michael Atherton lauds Yashasvi Jaiswal for double ton against England

London [UK], February 6 : Former England cricketer Michael Atherton lauded star Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah and young opening batter Yashasvi Jaiswal for their performances in the second Test against England, calling Jaiswal's innings "stunning" and Bumrah's scorching yorker to dismiss Ollie Pope as "spectacular".
India levelled the five-match series 1-1 following a 106 run win over England in the second Test and Jaiswal's 209 in the first innings and Bumrah's nine wickets in the match, including a six-wicket haul in the first innings were the highlights of the game.
Atherton told Sky Sports, "This will be the first time that English supporters have seen him (Jaiswal) really at any lengths in the middle and boy did he play some shots. Some of the sixes he hit were very very powerfully struck so that combination of the drive and desire to make himself into a great cricketer."
"But also that kind of ability to take the game on in the T20 style which all the players have now, I thought that was a stunning innings," he added.
Atherton also pointed out that skipper Ben Stokes, dismissed twice by Bumrah in the series, struggles to pick up the pace of Bumrah and he "hurried" against the star pacer.
"Picking with the speed of the ball is tough with him and I have noticed with Stokes, even Stokes actually is an excellent player of fast bowling. He has hurried with Bumrah," said Atherton.
"He struggles to pick up the pace, and a couple of times when he has got him, it looks as though the ball has kept low, which has but it also almost beaten him for pace as well. I think that is the issue with Bumrah," he added.
Lauding Bumrah's yorker that castled Pope's middle and leg stumps, Atherton said, "It was spectacular [yorker] was not it? I do not see what Pope could have done with that. It was an unbelievable image as Pope walked back."
Coming to the match, England was bundled out for 292 while chasing a target of 399 runs to take a 2-0 lead in the series, with only Zak Crawley (73 in 132 balls, eight fours and two sixes) taking Indian bowlers to the attack.
Jasprit Bumrah (3/46) and Ravichandran Ashwin (3/72) were the pick of the bowlers for India. Kuldeep Yadav, Mukesh and Axar Patel managed to get a wicket each.
Earlier, India gained a 398-run lead in their second innings after being bundled out for 255. Shubman Gill roared into form with a classy 104 in 147 balls with 11 fours and two sixes, scoring a fifty-plus score after 12 innings. Contributions from Axar Patel (45 in 84 balls with six fours), Ravichandran Ashwin and Shreyas Iyer (29 runs each) helped India secure a big lead.
Tom Hartley (4/77) and Rehan (3/88) were the pick of the bowlers for England.
Led by Jasprit Bumrah's heroics, India had earlier bundled out England for just 253 in their first innings, gaining a 143-run lead. Zak Crawley (76 in 78 balls, with 11 fours and two sixes) did launch an impressive counterattack, but Bumrah (6/45) along with spinner Kuldeep Yadav (3/71) blew away the rest of the English line-up.
India reached a respectable total of 396 runs in their first innings mainly due to the maiden double-hundred of the young Yashasvi Jaiswal (209 in 290 balls, with 19 fours and seven sixes). Knocks from Shubman Gill (34), Rajat Patidar (32), Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel (27 each) provided some help to the left-handed batter.