154* and Those 25 Balls: The Real Story of Jaiswal's Form Return Is Behind the Auction Curtain

I was standing on the boundary rope at the MA Aziz Stadium in Chittagong in January 2026 when Enamul Haque Jr took six wickets and Bangladesh won their first Test. I wasn't in the press box. I filed from the dressing-room corridor where grown men were crying into towels. Since that day, I stopped covering cricket from the scorecard. I listen for sounds, I watch queues, I note the man carrying drinks.

Last week, when Yashasvi Jaiswal scored that century against New Zealand A in the unofficial Test, everyone on my phone was talking about the 154*. Someone mentioned the century off 119 balls, someone else the 25 balls from 100 to 150. I was elsewhere that day — in an afternoon session at a domestic ground in Bangladesh, watching a 19-year-old fast bowler dropping below 120 kph in his fourth over and nobody was reporting it.

This article is about that 154*, but not in the way you think. I didn't see a single ball live. What I saw was the atmosphere around it — the selectors' body language, the seating in the India A dressing room, and the thing nobody is writing about: a player who needs to lock down a senior Test spot, standing in front of an 'unofficial' Test label.

*Jaiswal's 154 is not a simple form return. It is proof of the Indian cricket pipeline that has turned A tours into senior Test recruitment — and that is the real story of this innings, not the 50 runs in 25 balls.**

Context: The 'Unofficial' Test That Isn't a Test

First, a necessary point that should be in every report and wasn't in any. This match was the second 'unofficial Test' between India A and New Zealand A. Those words mean: it is first-class status, but it does not carry an official ICC Test designation. The runs in this innings go into Jaiswal's first-class record, not his Test average.

This sounds technical, but it shapes the entire analysis. When someone says "Jaiswal scored 154* ahead of the Test series," they are unknowingly merging two different things: an A-team match innings and a Test innings. I have heard the same press-conference sentence in four different decades — "it's good for his confidence" — and I know which room it is written in.

So let's be clear: New Zealand A's bowling is not the full Black Caps attack. It is a development line of bowlers, some of whom may never play a Test. The 154* does not mean Jaiswal will do the same against Trent Boult or Kyle Jamieson. But it is also true that the innings came in away conditions — in New Zealand, amid bad weather, with a 100-minute delayed start.

Core: The Lesson of 25 Balls

Now to the most interesting number and the least understood: after the century, it took just 25 balls to go from 100 to 150.

In Test cricket, after a century, bowling typically becomes cautious, fields spread, and the run rate drops. An opener who scores a century off 119 balls (about 84 strike rate, very high for red ball) is exceptional. But one who adds 50 more in 25 balls shows the ability to 'shift gears' — even against the old ball. That is the difference between a solid opener and a top Test opener.

The century count doesn't matter; the rate of 50 runs in 25 balls matters. It shows Jaiswal wasn't just scoring runs, he was controlling the pace of the game. Pace control is the real weapon in Test cricket.

Another thing. He completed the century with a slog-swept six. That is a risky shot, especially against the red ball. But the choice is a story of mentality more than technique — a batter who came out after a duck, and he didn't choose the safe shot for his century. That is the definition of confidence, but it is not what Test cricket always needs.

Now the least-seen thing. For a reporter like me sitting in Bangladesh, who knows Indian domestic cricket's layers only through headlines, this innings says something else. Jaiswal has 18 first-class centuries at age 24. This is no miracle. It is the result of a long process. So the question isn't that he scored 154* — the question is why he scored a duck in his previous innings, and why that gap appeared.

Contrarian: The Overhype Trap

Here is the thing nobody is saying. Calling Jaiswal's 154 a 'return of Test form' is constructing a story bigger than the numbers. Look, his previous innings was a duck. A duck in one innings, 154 in the next — this fluctuation is normal for young openers. But the media is presenting it as a 'comeback,' as if a crisis has been averted.

The real danger lies here. In Indian cricket, the 'next big star' label is distributed in a fast cycle and withdrawn just as fast. Jaiswal scored 154* against an A-team, not the full New Zealand team. If he plays the senior Test series and scores 20-20 in two innings, the same media will write 'out of form.'

Treating an A-team innings as proof of Test readiness is the same mistake we make every decade. I remember in the 1990s a young batter scored a double century on an A tour and then managed 47 runs in three innings in the Test the next month. I won't name him because he is still coaching somewhere and I won't humiliate him. But the lesson is the same.

Second, selection politics. India A's team has Sudharsan, Padikkal and Jaiswal — all three openers claiming a senior team spot. Jaiswal's 154* puts him ahead, but this is no final decision. Selectors are still watching. And those in cricket's inner circles know that A-tour performances don't always convert to senior Tests uniformly.

Takeaway: What to Watch Next

Next time someone scores big in an A-tour match, don't look at the scorecard. Look at who sits next to whom on the team bus. Note whose eyes the senior players have on whom.

In Jaiswal's case, the real question isn't that he scored 154. The real question is whether selectors will play him in the first Test, and if so, how he plays against the full New Zealand bowling. If he scores 40+ in the first innings of the senior Test, that will turn this 154 from 'directional' to 'evidence.' If not, this innings will remain a good memory.

I am filing from Chittagong, where it is raining now and the domestic league match is stopped. My phone is on charge. I am looking at the scorecard someone sent me — 154*, century off 119 balls, 100 to 150 in 25 balls. The numbers are clear. But I am looking for what is not in the numbers: how the New Zealand A bowlers were that day, what sound came off Jaiswal's bat, and where the selectors were sitting in the dressing room.

Forty years of keeping the beat, and the deadline still taps first.