Yashasvi Jaiswal

Yashasvi Jaiswal's cricketing journey is an inspiration to many. Coming from a humble background, he waded through struggles to achieve his dreams. The youngest of four children, Jaiswal moved to Mumbai as a 10-year-old to try and pursue a career in cricket. He lived in tents next to cricket grounds in Mumbai and had to rely purely on his cricket talent to get him out of some tough times.

The Mumbai lad was in the news for making his entry into the Indian U-19 team for the Sri Lankan tour in August. Coming through the junior cricket ranks, Yashasvi has hit 49 centuries in the last five years, but he wasn't doing that well for the national team.

In his first two matches, the youngster could muster paltry scores of 15 and 1, which saw him getting dropped from the side before a hammering 114 in the final helped him cement his place in the side. In the ACC U-19 Asia Cup, Yashasvi has started well by hitting his second ton against Nepal. Through a phenomenal U19 World Cup campaign in 2020, Yashasvi made a massive statement to everyone, that he had indeed arrived. Being picked for the Royals in the IPL was another boost and if he gets chances, the youngster will be keen to make his talent count.

Jaiswal got only 3 games in the IPL in 2020, and 10 the following year but failed to really light up the tournament. However, the franchise kept their faith in his talent and retained him ahead of the mega auction, making him the second youngest player to ever be retained. Jaiswal had an upturn in form in the years that followed, as he knocked the house down scoring a bucketload of runs in the domestic circuit.

The 2023 IPL was another purple patch for Jaiswal, as he took the pressure off a misfiring Jos Buttler by repeatedly giving the franchise aggressive starts. The southpaw scored 625 runs at an average of 48.08 and a staggering strike rate of over 160. He also usurped the record for the fastest IPL 50 from KL Rahul and Pat Cummins, as he got to that mark in just 13 balls against KKR. Jaiswal also picked up his maiden IPL hundred in 2023 at his native Wankhede Stadium against Mumbai Indians.

A spellbinding IPL opened the doors for the first International call-up, as the southpaw was picked for the Test squad to West Indies post India’s WTC final defeat. He had a dream debut, scoring 171 runs in his first ever innings in International cricket, to claim the Player of the Match accolade. Later in the year, Jaiswal got his chance in T20I cricket as well. He was part of the squad for the Asian Games, and scored a century against Nepal.

Jaiswal struggled in his next Test series, which was away to South Africa. He scored just 50 runs in those two Tests but found his form when he played at home next time around, which was against England. Jaiswal was the leading run scorer in that four Test series, scoring back to back double hundreds. He also bagged the record for the most sixes in a Test innings, when he smoked 12 sixes in a game at Rajkot. Jaiswal followed that up with an impressive IPL season, and he was part of the victorious Indian squad at the 2024 T20 World Cup, although he didn’t play a single game in that tournament.

The youngster continued his fine form in Test cricket with good performances against Bangladesh and New Zealand, and capped that off with a century in his first Test in Australia at the intimidating Optus Stadium in Perth. Jaiswal has been the leading Test run scorer for India in 2024.

Still early days for the southpaw, but the signs are there for him to dominate world cricket in the decade to follow.