Yashasvi Jaiswal

Yashasvi Jaiswal was born on 28 Dec 2001. He rose to prominence in Indian cricket as a result of his outstanding performance at the Under-19 World Cup in 2020, where he won the Player of the Tournament award. He amassed more than 400 runs during the competition and the fact that he had to work really hard to get there made his accomplishment all the more spectacular. When Yashasvi was a young cricket player and was not chosen for the Indian U-19 team, he had to endure massive disappointment. Jaiswal was born in Uttar Pradesh, but his desire to play cricket and represent India led him to Mumbai at the age of 12 where he had to wander from field to field looking for opportunities to play.

Jwala Singh, a local coach, took him under his wing two years later, after watching him at Azad Maidan after which his career blossomed. He worked odd jobs in the street to sustain himself while living in the tents in the ‘maidan’ and played cricket during the remaining hours to hone his skills. The excellent top-order batsman turned 17 during the 2018–19 Ranji Trophy season where he made his first-class debut against Chhattisgarh. Later in September, he earned his List–A debut during India’s U–23 tour of Bangladesh. Jaiswal was chosen for the U-19 World Cup that was held in 2020 due to his improvement at the domestic and age-group levels. Even after being chosen for the Indian U-19 team, he did not immediately succeed and had to work harder at everything.

He was able to secure a spot in the U-19 World Cup thanks to a century in the youth Asia Cup before the World Cup. Jaiswal was chosen by the Rajasthan franchise for the Indian T20 League, just like many other U-19 players before him, based on his exceptional talent and the possibility that he would develop into a star in the coming years. Jaiswal was purchased for Rs 2.4 crore, which is a significant sum given the difficulties he had to face in his quest to become a cricket player. A million hearts were won when the young player made his IPL debut against MS Dhoni’s Chennai franchise and gave the renowned wicketkeeper a "namaste" as he came to the crease. Jaiswal struggled and faltered with the bat in his maiden IPL season, hence he didn’t have much success.

After an underwhelming performance in his first three games, he was benched. The young man returned to domestic cricket and improved himself in preparation for the most competitive T20 competition. With a total of 564 runs, including three centuries and a fifty, Jaiswal led the Mumbai run charts during the 2020 Vijay Hazare season just before the 2021 Indian T20 League season. It was followed by a domestic season that was equally impressive. He announced himself to the world during the 2023 Indian T20 League as he finished 5th on the runs scoring charts having accumulated 625 runs at an average of 48.07 and striking it at 163.61. This got him his maiden call-up to the Indian squad for the Test and T20I series against West Indies. He is considered a golden boy of Indian cricket with a lot to offer and the potential to excel on the world stage. Jaiswal’s performance in the five-match series against England in 2024, was what really made him known on the international scene. Over the course of the series, the youthful opener hit two double-hundreds and scored 712 runs in the nine innings he batted.