Jeet Raval's father heaps praise on his son after maiden Test century

Mumbai: Jeet Raval on Friday scored his maiden Test century, becoming the first Indian-origin from New Zealand to do so. The 30-year-old achieved this on day two of the first Test against Bangladesh, as he was dismissed for 132 by Mahmudullah.

It was a long awaited century by New Zealand opener Jeet Raval, according to his father, Ashok Raval.

"It’s a long awaited century as an opening batsman. He always gave good start to the team with 8 fifties and good average around 40" said Ashok.

"His highest score was 88 against South Africa. Somehow he couldn’t convert his 4/5 innings into century because of little mistake or losing patience or concentration, but this time I advised him to stay on the wicket with positive mind. He was determined and confident to avail the opportunity this time".

"His records at domestic level was very good in big score conversion at four day as well in one day".

"After watching his fifty in this innings I was pretty sure that he will not miss the big score this time and result is there", the father added.

The family was not present at the ground on first two days. "We watched the first two days on TV at home but we are here to watch the ongoing Test match on Saturday and Sunday at Seddon Park, Hamilton".

Ashok Raval said that his son’s century came against a strong Bangladesh side. "Let me tell you here that the Bangladesh is not a weak team. They have defeated the strong ranking teams so many times and Jeet's best score of 80 and 88 runs were against the South African team. It’s just a century at the international level and let us celebrate his performance".

"He has scored his maiden century, completed 1000 runs and third best NZ opening partnership", Ashok Raval concluded.