Boy wonder from Mumbai

When you come from a country with over a billion people and where everyone loves cricket, it is incredibly tough to defy all odds and rise to glory. Mumbai-born Yashasvi Jaiswal is only 20 and is already on his way to becoming a key star for Indian cricket’s future.

18-year-old Yashasvi Jaiswal in the U-19 World Cup in South Africa. Image credits: ESPNCricinfo

Yashasvi was born to the owner of a small hardware store in 2001. Growing up as the fourth child among six, in a middle-class family, was very difficult, and to pick up a sport as your career in such trying times is mostly frowned upon. Jaiswal’s parents, however, understood the talent their son possessed and moved around quite a bit to facilitate his move into professional cricket.

His first break came when he was playing school cricket. He scored 319 not out and took 13 wickets in a Giles Shield game which earned him a call-up to the Mumbai under-16 squad. This eventually led to him becoming a part of the under-19 team as well and he set the scene ablaze. He was scoring runs at such a pace that we’d only seen titans, real veterans of the game score at.

On October 16, 2019, playing for Mumbai in the Vijay Hazare trophy, Jaiswal added a monumental record under his belt. Chasing down a total, he became the youngest player in the world to score a double-century in List A cricket; an innings where he racked 203 off just 154 balls. Just two months later, he was named in the squad for the Under-19 World Cup (which was captained by Priyam Garg) which was to be hosted in South Africa. He earned the team some more accolades by becoming the highest run-scorer of the tournament.

Things took a turn for a better when this youngster earned himself an IPL contract.

A new chapter

After his success in the Under-19 World Cup, Yashasvi had put his name in the 2020 IPL auction pool and was bought by Rajasthan Royals for Rs 2.40 Crores as their secondary opener. He had made several highlights with this news, given his past of selling pani-puri once to earn a living.

Even though he didn't enjoy a lot of success in his first year in the IPL (40 runs in 3 games), Rajasthan had faith in him and kept him on as one of their uncapped retention.

I, for one, was disappointed with the way he was handled in his first year and believed he should be given more opportunities to play and play freely, since he's an attacking batsman by nature. As destiny would have it, that is exactly what we saw in the following year. Rajasthan wasn't an out-and-out success in the 2021 season and Jaiswal himself wasn't anywhere among the highest run-getters, but we saw a glimpse of just what he's capable of. He scored 249 runs in that season but those came at a strike rate of 148. In the process, he also scored the second-fastest fifty by an uncapped batter in the IPL, behind Ishan Kishan.

With a mega auction coming up, a lot of players are going to move around. Platforms like the IPL and the SMAT provide a fruitful medium for youngsters like Jaiswal to display their talent, and I can't wait to see more of what he's got!