Yashasvi Jaiswal impresses Usman Khawaja on his first Australia Tour

It's a tough task to find positives in India's performance down under, with their Border Gavaskar Trophy campaign taking a downhill turn across the five matches. The team lost their claim to the iconic trophy after a decade as Australia edged them 3-1. However, some players staged unmissable performances at various moments in the series. One of those was opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was playing his first series in Australia. The batter, also the highest scorer for India in the 2023-25 WTC Cycle, started with a second-innings century in Perth, the opening BGT Test. While he fumbled in some of the subsequent innings against Mitchell Starc, Jaiswal stood out as a saving grace for India in the Boxing Day Test.

Yashasvi Jaiswal finds an admirer in Usman Khawaja following his Border Gavaskar Trophy run

After his commendable ton in the Perth Test, where he partnered with KL Rahul for a record-breaking 201-run stand for the opening wicket, Jaiswal's form grabbed the spotlight at the MCG. If not for an unfortunate run-out in the opening innings, the young batter looked poised to notch his second ton in the series. However, he remained unfazed by the setback to score another 80-run knock before a controversial dismissal curtailed his innings once again. Nevertheless, Jaiswal scored 391 runs at an average of 43.44, emerging as the highest scorer amidst a disappointing Indian batting order.

Seasoned Australian opener Usman Khawaja praised Yashasvi Jaiswal for his batting display following the conclusion of the BGT. Khawaja, who managed just 184 runs in the five matches, commented on a social media post by Jaiswal summarizing the BGT. In his Instagram post, Jaiswal expressed disappointment at letting the trophy slip away but explained that he learned a lot during his first tour to Australia. Meanwhile, Khawaja commented on the post, appreciating his performance. Additionally, former cricketer and legend Michael Vaughan also shared words of praise for the Indian batsman.

“Love your work, brother,” Khawaja wrote under Jaiswal's post.

“You are a superstar ... love watching you play," Michael Vaughan expressed.

Interestingly, Jaiswal's tally of 391 runs is the second-highest scored by any batter in the Border Gavaskar Trophy. Only Travis Head, who scored 448 runs with two consecutive tons in Adelaide and Brisbane, stands ahead of Jaiswal.