Yashasvi Jaiswal’s story from the streets of Mumbai, where he was selling panipuri to supplement his cricket coaching, to breaking records in the Indian Premier League (IPL) is well documented. The 21-year-old was named in India’s Test squad for the upcoming tour of West Indies.
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This comes after he was rewarded for his tremendous form in IPL 2023, where he scored 625 runs in 14 matches in the season at an average of 48.08 and also scored a brilliant hundred. He had also slammed a 13-ball half-century against Kolkata Knight Riders during the tournament, to register the record of the fastest half-century in IPL history.
He was named as the stand-by player in India’s World Test Championship final squad but did not feature in the loss at The Oval.
“This is a moment I have been dreaming all my life," Yashasvi Jaiswal was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.
Jaiswal’s struggles have been well-recorded and so are his records.
“I did face difficulties there. There was no electricity, no restroom, no help. I had to wash my own clothes. Days passed by. But I was not able to manage everything. Moreover, there was no one with whom I could share my feelings. The gardeners did not behave well with me. Others used to beat me up. Forced to cook and threatened not to provide any food. Another activity I used to do- I used to sell pani puris at night. I made some money out of it. Even though I started enjoying it, I also prayed to god for a better opportunity," Jaiswal recalled of his time living in a tent during an interview with Quint.
But since being spotted in December 2013 by Jwala Singh, who ran a cricket academy in Santacruz, Jaiswal got to showcase his talent on the cricketing field.
Come 2015, Jaiswal got his name in the record books by smashing an unbeaten 319 and also picked up 13/99 in a Giles Shield match. He was subsequently picked up by Mumbai U-16 and then India U-19. Even though India lost in the final to Bangladesh, Yashasvi Jaiswal was adjudged the ‘player of the World Cup’ as he top-scored with 400 runs.
In senior cricket, Jaiswal became the youngest double centurion in the history of List A cricket, at 17 years, 292 days, when he notched up 203 runs off 154 balls at the 2019–20 Vijay Hazare Trophy match for Mumbai against Jharkhand.
For all his hard work and struggles in his early life, Yashasvi Jaiswal did not give up and is seeing the fruit of his labour and patience.
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