Top 5 highest scores on Test debut away from home

Yashasvi Jaiswal became the first Indian opener to score a century on his Test debut away from home when he achieved the feat against West Indies. The ton, which soared to a massive 171, was a display of determination and patient run-scoring on a difficult pitch from a young batter previously known for flair and prompt aggression.

Sixteen Indians, with two openers among them, had scored a debut Test ton before Jaiswal, but only four had done so away from home. Only seven more players have scored more than 150 runs on debut away from home.

Jaiswal's knock ranks fifth in the top scores among them. Here's a look at the other four in ascending order:

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#4 Devon Conway - New Zealand (vs England)

Jaiswal's style has many similarities to New Zealand opener Devon Conway. The left-handed batter also opens in T20s and has the ability to tee off from the first ball and possesses a monk-like balance against pace with a similarly brilliant flick shot in his arsenal. The only difference is that Conway is 22 and Jaiswal is yet to turn 22.

Conway scored a 200 (347) on debut against England at Lord's in 2021. Batting first on a pitch that didn't have much swing but a slight seam movement (still, nine of the 11 Kiwi batters didn't score more than 25 runs), Conway played it late and weathered out good spells from a disciplined bowling attack while being busy.

However, it's the only knock in this list to not have come in a winning cause for, chasing 273 in the last innings, the then pre-BazBall England were happy to block their way to 170/3.

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#3 Kyle Mayers - West Indies (vs Bangladesh)

West Indies middle-order batter Kyle Mayers' exceptional 210 against Bangladesh in Chittagong in 2021 is the only one in the top-five Test debut inning to have come under the pressure of chasing. It's also only the second unbeaten knock on the list.

Batting last in the sub-continent is never easy, not least when you are a young team with most of the first-choice players not available. And especially not when you are chasing 395 against three quality spinners. Mayers, who had a poor record against spin before that Test even in T20s, thwarted all odds and more.

He played it late and for the turn to Taijul Islam, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, and Nayeem Hasan and teed off after taking his time early in the innings to help West Indies chase the biggest target away from home in their history.

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#2 Jacques Rudolph - South Africa (vs Bangladesh)

Another left-handed batter (yes, the fourth) scored the second-highest knock (and also the other unbeaten one) on Test debut at the same venue as Mayers, 18 years before him. Jacques Rudolph, batting No. 3 for South Africa against Bangladesh in the first of the two-Test tour, scored 222* off 383 balls.

His knock comprising 29 fours and two sixes was part of a 429-run partnership with Boeta Dippenaar, the first 400-plus stand for South Africa in Tests.

The visitors declared with a 297-run lead and went on to beat Bangladesh by an innings and 60 runs. Rudolph scored four more centuries before taking a Kolpak deal after a dip in form.

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#1 RE Foster - England (vs Australia)

The only right-handed batter to score a double-hundred on their Test debut did so 120 years ago when only three countries had played a recognized Test match and when England were better known as Marylebone Cricket Club.

England's RE Foster, also known as Tip Foster scored 287 runs in 419 minutes (there's no clear record of balls faced), including 37 boundaries, in the second innings in Sydney. It was two runs more than Australia's first-innings total and helped England take a 292-run lead and eventually win the contest by five wickets.

Foster, the only man to captain England in both cricket and football, never played Australia at home. This was his only hundred in eight Tests and he overall recorded 602 runs at an average of 46.30. He suffered from diabetes and died at the tender age of 36.