Yashasvi Jaiswal: Lived the rags, waiting for the riches

the last decade, IPL auctions have thrown up many rags to riches stories and Thursday might see an addition to that list in Yashasvi Jaiswal.

The 17-year-old Mumbai opener has already made heads turn and it won’t come as a surprise if he is at the centre of a bidding battle with the uncapped player’s base price set at ₹20 lakh.

If timing is of essence before an IPL auction, Jaiswal’s couldn’t be sweeter. The left-handed batsman made an impact in the Vijay Hazare Trophy in September-October, notching up 564 runs in six matches. It included a 154-ball 203 against Jharkhand that saw him become the youngest to score a double in the tournament.

Being bought in the auctions will be another massive step in the youngster’s cricketing journey that began with his arrival in Mumbai as an 11-year-old. He had arrived from Bhadohi town in UP with dreams of playing cricket at the highest level. He slept in a dairy initially, but was asked to move out as he could not help much with work there. He stayed with his uncle for a few days, but his home was very small and the boy was shifted to the Muslim United Club’s tents.

For the next three years, those were his home. The Mumbai heat would make it unbearable so he would sleep outside. Despite the hardships, he would spend most of the day on the cricket field. But he needed money to survive. “I was staying in a tent alright but I had no money to buy food. So I started selling paani puri. I also did scoring, became a ball boy. Basically, I did everything through which I could earn,”

Yashasvi had told HT in October.

The teenager has the temperament to bat long and the power game to hit deep. Jaiswal ended Vijay Hazare with 25 sixes in six games. He has backed his domestic showing by doing well for India U-19, and will be a key member for the junior World Cup in South Africa next month.

Franchises are bound to fight for Jaiswal, not least his city team Mumbai Indians, who are in the hunt for an opener after releasing Evin Lewis. RCB and KKR could join, especially the latter that is known to back young talent— Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana and Kamlesh Nagarkoti being the prime examples.

What makes Jaiswal an attractive package is his ability to bowl leg-spin, which fetched him five wickets in five matches in the first season Mumbai’s domestic T20 league last year.