Cook lauds Yashasvi as a 'class player', backs his confidence in sledging Starc in Perth Test

New Delhi : Former England captain Alastair Cook has all praise for India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, who scored a brilliant 161 in India's massive win against Australia in the opening Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, calling him a "class player" while also lauded the confidence of the youngster for sledging pacer Mitchell Starc.

During the second day play of the first Test in Perth, Jaiswal took a dig at Starc, saying, "You are coming too slow at me". The left-arm fast bowler, had a smile on his face while walking back to his mark.

"We’ve seen his celebration enough here, but it’s more enjoyable against Australia than England, certainly. And sledging Mitchell Starc, saying at a certain stage, I think he wasn’t on 100, he wasn’t on anything on a major score, but he’s telling him you’re bowling slow," Cook said on TNT Sports.

"And I’ve faced Mitchell Starc and he certainly doesn’t bowl slow. And if he was bowling slow, I’d keep my mouth shut and not wind him up, but have the confidence to do that as a 22-year-old."

Jaiswal now has 1280 runs in 12 Test matches this year. He is the second-highest run-getter in Test this year behind Joe Root, who has 1338 runs to his name in 15 matches.

"I think he scored the most runs as any Indian player up to after 15 Test matches at the top of the order, which I’ll keep saying it, no one else believes me, it’s the hardest place to bat. What a classy player he is," Cook added.

Jaiswal needs 283 runs before the end of 2024 to become India's highest run-getter in a calendar year. Batting great Sachin Tendulkar holds the record of scoring the most Test runs in a single calendar year with a total of 1562 runs in 14 Test matches in 2010.