Jaiswal takes lessons from early struggles
MUMBAI: Yashasvi Jaiswal has a very clear thought process for a 20-year-old. He knows what needs to be done to succeed and how. He attributes that clarity of thought to his initial days of hardship that were spent sleeping in a tent and selling pani puri outside Azad Maidan as he took baby steps towards building his cricket career. “I will never forget those days of struggle. That made me tough and mentally strong,” says Jaiswal.
His fortitude helped him dominate junior cricket and he is starting to replicate that success at the senior level. His three centuries on the trot while opening for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy knockouts has further enhanced his reputation.
The centuries have come in contrasting fashion as well. While the one against Uttarakhand in the second innings of the quarter-final was an attacking one, the second one in the first innings of the ongoing semifinal against Uttar Pradesh was a tutorial on defensive display. Jaiswal adopted a sedate approach in the second innings as well (he took 54 balls to get off the mark on Thursday) en route to a 181 off 372 balls on Friday and completing his twin tons in the match. With Mumbai taking a 213-run lead after dismissing UP for 180, the idea was to bat them out of the contest.
Jaiswal wasn’t in the Mumbai 11 during the group stages of the Ranji Trophy. But that didn’t discourage him. “I can’t control everything. I was preparing myself…that whenever I will get a chance, I will score runs. I believe in myself, I trust myself. I know only one person can help me and it’s me. All the time I need to focus on the process, be disciplined, eat good food, do fitness…,” says Jaiswal.
Jaiswal first gained national prominence during the Vijay Harare Trophy in 2019. The 17-year-old scored 203 against Jharkhand to become the youngest double centurion in List A cricket. He finished the tournament with 564 runs from six matches. That was followed by a stellar performance for India in the 2020 Under-19 World Cup where he finished as the tournament’s top scorer with 400 runs in six matches at an average of 133.33. He was picked up by the Rajasthan Royals for ₹2.4 crore at the 2020 IPL auction. All this while, he continued his runscoring spree for Mumbai.
But then his struggle started. He aggravated a shoulder injury playing for Mumbai. Soon after, the Covid-19 lockdown hampered his recovery. He entered the 2020 IPL rusty and it showed in the three matches he played. With cricket in Mumbai halted due to the pandemic, he shifted base to Gorakhpur in UP for training. During his month-long stay there, he faced around 450 balls during his three-hour daily sessions with focus on hitting sixes and working on his cuts and pulls. “If there is a weakness, I need to iron them out. The sessions really helped,” Jaiswal says of those sessions.
All his hard work over the last couple of years since the 2020 IPL has been bearing fruit. Jaiswal scored a 49-ball 103 in Mumbai’s selection matches for the 2021 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament. He didn’t have a great outing in the tournament but showed glimpses of his hitting prowess. He had a much better showing in the 2021 IPL scoring 248 runs in 10 matches, convincing the Royals’ management to retain him for 2022.
The start was scratchy this season and he was benched for a few matches before being given another chance. This time, he grabbed it and finished the IPL with 258 runs in 10 matches including two fifties.
“The time spent on the bench, I worked hard in the nets, outside the nets. I know myself better than anyone. That’s the only thing I need. I just try to work, go out and express myself in the middle. I just kept thinking that I need to keep focus,” he says.