Fellow six-hitting century-maker Doug Walters hails Yashasvi

They have got replacement blokes coming over. I think it’s fantastic that we got a contest on our hands and that’s going to be great”

Doug Walters, the great Australia batsman of the 1960s, 1970s, is not only impressed with India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal because he reached his hundred at Perth on Sunday with a six just like he himself did for Australia in an Ashes Test in the same city 50 seasons ago. It’s because Jaiswal, “plays in the fashion that I would love to play.” Walters, 79, who smacked the last ball of the day off Bob Willis for six on December 14, 1974, also completed a hundred in a session back then. He told mid-day from NSW: “He [Jaiswal] is a fantastic player. He is a great player for the future. I didn’t actually see the shot [that got him his century]. I was out having lunch at the time, but I was watching [other parts of his innings]. Now that he has cemented his place in the side, he is going to be more attacking than that. He is just fantastic to watch.”

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Walters, like most cricketers and fans, was surprised to see how the ongoing Test has panned out. “It’s surprising that you see 17 wickets fall in one day and then only three in the next. And then, not too many today [first half of Day 3]. Yeah, surprising but I think sillier things have happened in Test cricket. We [Australia]have got a job ahead of us,” said Walters.

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The 1969-70 India Test tourist wasn’t optimistic about Australia’s chances in the series. “I thought we [Australia] may have had the upper edge, but watching this Test match, I am not convinced we are going to win this series, I can tell you. India are only going to get better, aren’t they? They have got replacement blokes coming over. I think it’s fantastic that we got a contest on our hands and that’s going to be great.”

Walters scored 5,357 runs in 74 Tests at 48.26. He scored a Test century in a session twice.

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