The young prospect Yashasvi Jaiswal stole the spotlight in the year 2015 when he scored an unbeaten 319 and continued to impressed everyone with the ball as he took 13/99 in a Giles Shield match. His all-round record in school level cricket was felicitated by the Limca Book of Records.
He plays for India Under-19s and Mumbai. In October 2019, he became the youngest cricketer in the cricket fraternity to score a List A double century.
He scored 203 runs off 154 balls in a Vijay Hazare Trophy match against Jharkhand and also became the youngest double centurion in the history of List A cricket at 17 years, 292 days. His superb knock included 17 fours and 12 sixes.
He was also one of the top five run-getters at the 2019–20 Vijay Hazare Trophy tournament. Playing 6 games, he scored 564 runs at an average of 112.80. He also chipped in with three hundreds and a fifty to his name. He earned his spot in the India B squad for the 2019–20 Deodhar Trophy. In December 2019, he was named in India’s squad for the 2020 Under-19 Cricket World Cup.
Seeing Mumbai teenager’s performance, quite a few IPL franchises were reportedly interested in him in the build-up IPL 2019 auction. The uncapped player has set his base price at INR 20 lakh ahead of the IPL 2020 auction.
The 17-year-old player who once sold panipuris for survival has become a crorepati in the player auction for the mega IPL 2020 in Kolkata on Thursday.
Initially, the 4-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians started a bidding war and then Kings XI Punjab joined them followed by Kolkata Knight Riders before Rajasthan Royals snapped him Jaiswal up for Rs 2.40 crore.
Yashasvi Jaiswal was born poor but that’s not his mistake but he constantly worked hard in his life by learning how to play some good cricket. He was thrown out of a dairy shop because he focussed most of his time on cricket. Thanks to the groundsmen at the Muslim United Club’s tent at the Azad Maidan ground who gave space for Jaiswal to live there.
Though he continued playing cricket, a shortage of money was a setback. Besides all such struggles, he was well focussed on cricket, a sport that he admired and loved the most. He used to help out a food vendor at the tent. He was given free lunch and dinner. His job in the kitchen was to make rotis for the staff. He lived in a tent but nobody bothered about him. He slept hungry some days and no one cared about him. He sold ‘pani puris’ on roads to make money for a living.
Today, he is widely praised on social media for his epic transformation. From sleeping in a tent to winning the man of the series, Yashasvi Jaiswal has come a long way to show the world that anything is possible with sheer intensity, tenacity, grit and determination.
Yashasvi Jaiswal was the highest run scorer for the Indian cricket team as they comprehensively beat Sri Lanka to clinch the U-19 Asia Cup title in Dhaka on Sunday. The flamboyant opener set the tone for the team early on and continued with a slick flow of batting.
He made it look so easy while going about his business. He chipped in with 113-ball 85 to take his team to a mammoth total of 304/3. at an average of 79.50. This sums up the essential Jaiswal for you!
The U-19 cricketer expressed his interest in the game and he wants to play the fearless brand of cricket. He explained how he overcame all the challenges in his life. “I just wanted to play cricket and I want to play for Mumbai. I used to stay in a tent and there was no electricity, washrooms or water facilities there.
To make ends meet, I started working with a food vendor. On occasions, my teammates would turn up and I’d serve them. I felt terrible. But it took that in my stride as it was necessary,” Jaiswal told ESPNCricinfo in an interview.
Life-changing point in his career:
His life saw a turning point when his talent was well spotted by his coach Jwala Singh in the nets. The youngster almost quit the sport owing to the lack of opportunities, but having observed Jaiswal’s performance, Jwala Singh decided to pick him and train him.
“He was 11-12 years old when I first saw him bat. I was immediately impressed by his performance and he was playing against Division A bowlers with ease. Then my friend told me that he was struggling to find a home and he didn’t have a coach here,” Singh said.
Jaiswal made use of the chances to good effect. He came early to training sessions and trained for hours, grew from strength to strength. He hogged the limelight when he soon found himself in the Limca Book of Records after essaying a staggering unbeaten 319 and registering bowling figures of 13/99, an outstanding record for most runs and wickets in a school cricket match. He gained a lot of fan-following in the local circle and he was announced in the Mumbai U-16 squad before making it to the India U-19 team.
“In the last three years, he has made 51 centuries and has taken 200 wickets. He’s got a habit of making big scores. If he carries on playing like this in big tournaments, I’m very sure he will play for India,” the coach added.