Jaiswal goes past Viswanath in a unique home record for India

At just 22, Yashasvi Jaiswal is turning Test cricket into backyard cricket, etching one history after the other. On October 26, Jaiswal wrote another page in history, surpassing Gundappa Viswanath's 1979 record with 1048 runs in 2024, the most for any Indian batter in a year. The left-hander is only the second Indian to score 1000 Test runs in a calendar year at home.

Jaiswal got to that mark during the second innings of the second Test in Pune, when he got to 68 runs in India's run chase in Pune. The left-hander was at his fluent best during the innings, smashing a 61-ball 76 with nine fours and three sixes. 

Prior to Jaiswal, there was only one batter who came very close to completing 1000 runs at home in a calendar year, and it was Virat Kohli. Kohli scored 964 runs in 2016 before following up with 898 in the next year. Given Kohli’s decline, it felt like Viswanath’s record was not under threat before Jaiswal’s monumental start to his Test career. 

Jaiswal has already had one of the best starts for any Indian batter in Test history, and he has carried that momentum into 2024, where he has absolutely taken England, Bangladesh and now New Zealand to smithereens. 

Yashasvi Jaiswal is the sixth player to score 1000+ runs at home in Tests in a calendar year

1407 - Michael Clarke, 2012
1126 - Mohammad Yousuf, 2006
1058 - Graham Gooch, 1990
1047 - GR Viswanath, 1979
1012 - Justin Langer, 2004
1000*- Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2024#INDvsNZ pic.twitter.com/AihlaESOxp

— Cricket.com (@weRcricket) October 26, 2024

The left-handed batter also joined a rare club, becoming the sixth batter in the history of the sport to score 1000 or more home runs in a year. Michael Clarke still holds the record for the most runs in a calendar year, with 1407 runs back in 2012. 

Given that India don’t have a lot of Tests this year at home, it might be incredibly tough for Jaiswal to go past Clarke’s record. But rest assured, the 22-year-old is just getting started in Test cricket.

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