He lived in tents and sold street food to pursue cricket. The Indian Premier League loves Yashasvi Jaiswal.
The 21-year-old from Uttar Pradesh scored 124 off 62 balls for Rajasthan Royals in Mumbai, where he migrated as a kid.
“What a narrative, what a gift. Tom Moody, former Australia batsman and IPL coach, stated that Yashasvi Jaiswal would be a superstar.
“He’s talented. He carried his domestic form into IPL. Rohit Sharma, India’s all-format captain, remarked, “Good for him, Indian cricket, and RR.”
The left-hander’s first IPL century was the season’s best score and topped the league’s 2023 batting rankings.
He has 428 runs, ahead of Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Faf du Plessis (422) and Chennai Super Kings’ Devon Conway (414).
Pani puri to premier league
Jaiswal migrated to Mumbai alone at 11.
“I used to sleep in a dairy and then stayed at my uncle’s place but it wasn’t big enough and he asked me to find a different place,” Jaiswal told AFP in 2020.
I then slept in a tent near Azad Maidan (a Mumbai sports venue) and played cricket throughout the day.
“I sold pani puri at night, to help earn some money for food,” he claimed.
Coach Jwala Singh, who became Jaiswal’s legal guardian, spotted him scoring cricket and fetching balls in club games to fund his career.
“I saw in Yashasvi a younger me and thought God is giving me another chance to play well in my second innings of life,” state-level cricketer Singh told AFP in 2020.
In 2019, Jaiswal joined the Mumbai state squad and became the youngest batter to achieve a domestic one-day double century aged 17 years and 292 days.
Rajasthan bought him for $338,000 in the 2019 auctions of the richest T20 event.
At the 2020 under-19 World Cup, Jaiswal was India’s top scorer and tournament MVP.
Lost cause
This year, he has forged a deadly opening tandem with England white-ball skipper Jos Buttler after three disappointing IPL seasons.
After Australian axe-man Tim David hit three sixes in the final over, Mumbai Indians won with three balls after his brilliant innings on Sunday.
Even after hitting 16 fours and eight sixes, Jaiswal was awarded player of the match and remained modest.
I’ll work hard towards my dream. “Working on my process will yield results,” he stated.
Jaiswal “seems destined for bigger things,” tweeted veteran cricket writer Ayaz Memon, while former India cricketer Virender Sehwag dubbed the performance “one of the finest hundreds you will see.”
His name trended on social media, with many comparing his innings to former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum’s unbroken 158 for Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2008 season opener.
“This year he has taken his game to a new level,” Rohit stated.
“I questioned him where all that power is coming from since last year I didn’t see that many sixes and he was timing it so perfectly. “I’ve been in the gym a lot,” he admits.