When Jayant Yadav returned to the dressing room with a debut Test scalp under his belt, there were a few fans above the dressing room area shouting his name. Jayant smiled and walked into the players’ area silently almost as if to say his job was not yet done. Yes, he had scored a handy 35 lower down the order and had joy written all over his face after taking his first Test scalp but Jayant knew there were three hard days of Test cricket yet to be played. Ask him about his debut moment just a day back and he gives a recap with a smile on his face. “It is a proud moment for me to represent India in whites. When I started playing cricket, apart from playing with my brothers on the street, the only thing a person dreams of is playing Test cricket for India as he ascends the domestic cricket grind,” Jayant told BCCI.TV. “Yesterday when I received the Test cap from Ravi (Shastri) Sir, it was a very proud moment for me. I can’t pin point one emotion because they were like firecrackers. One emotion was (of) pride - of representing your country. Then there was that feeling of hard work being rewarded. Then there were bursts of anxiety and curiousness to know how it feels to walk on that ground with that badge on your chest, cap or the helmet on your head. It was a completely different experience.” Jayant wore his helmet when India were reeling at 365/7. Together with Ravichandran Ashwin, he joined hands to put up a 64-run stand for the eighth wicket. Handy runs at that and Jayant relished his stint at the crease. “I believe those 35 runs were vital and I enjoyed batting with Ashwin. He kept things simple and relaxed. He was doing most of the talking. He kept encouraging from ball to ball and kept telling me that I was hitting the ball well. He gave me a few pointers of how to adjust according to the wicket and the bowlers.” Bowling aside, Jayant also spoke of the effort being put in at the nets to get better with the bat. “I credit our batting coach Sanjay Bangar Sir for pushing everyone in the side to have a bat at the nets. He keeps egging you to up your game and skills according to international standards. I worked on a lot of technical stuff with him and in particular, on the short balls. Small things like widening my stance so that I got better balance while batting and it worked in the middle. I got out to a rash shot but hopefully I will get better going forward.” There was a buzz of excitement in the ground when Jayant was tossed the ball in the 33rd over of the England innings. He bowled a tight line and got his first Test wicket in his second over. It came after a successful DRS referral from India where Moeen Ali was struck on the pads first. The on-field umpire had given it not out which was overturned after the referral. When the big screen displayed OUT, Jayant’s teammates congratulated him and Jayant’s joy knew no bounds. “The feeling can’t be expressed but there was jubilation, pride and happiness at that time. I think that’s all I can express how it felt at that point of time. It was a great feeling to get my first Test scalp.” Moving forward to the match situation, Jayant believed bowling in partnerships was crucial. “It is very important on this wicket to be consistent and accurate. Bowling partnerships are going to be very crucial with each bowler supporting the other. Just being consistent and bowling together will be the key going into the rest of the days.”