From Bhadohi to Roseau, India’s latest opening sensation Yashasvi Jaiswal hums a happy tune

Yashasvi Jaiswal wasn’t born when Titanic was released.

James Cameron’s classic remains one of the most loved films of our time, 26 years after it reached cinemas and garnered a record 14 Oscar nominations. One of Titanic’s highlights was the song, My Heart Will Go On. Sung by Celine Dion, it was the theme song of the film and is one of the largest-selling singles of all time.

It is Jaiswal’s favourite song (that it was picturised on his favourite actress Kate Winslet is an added attraction). Listening to the song makes him happy.

He is particularly fond of the song’s opening lines — Every night in my dreams/ I see you, I feel you. He often hums those lines.

He must have done it quite a few times when he watched, from a distance, the bright lights at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, on a night of an IPL match or an international game. As he listened to the noise from the stadium, he would imagine, one day, the fans there would be cheering for him.

That dream came true in spectacular style a couple of months ago as he smashed 124 off just 62 balls for Rajasthan Royals against Mumbai Indians. That was his first hundred in the IPL, something he must have been looking forward to ever since he was picked by the Royals for Rs. 2.4 crore, 12 times his base price.

He was just 17 then, and the onset of the coronavirus was just a few weeks away. Because of the pandemic, the 2020 edition of the IPL was staged in the UAE.

Ahead of the tournament, Jaiswal sounded understandably excited as he spoke to this correspondent over phone from Dubai. “Being part of the IPL is an amazing feeling,” he said. “I have already learnt how different the senior level is from the junior.”

His transition to senior cricket was smooth enough. He had made a double hundred for Mumbai against Jharkhand in the Vijay Hazare Trophy tournament in 2019 at Bengaluru. His 154-ball 203 made him, at 17 years and 292 days, the world’s youngest-ever double-centurion in List A cricket, in which only six other Indians had scored a double hundred before him. He had broken a record that stood for 44 years, and by three years (the previous record belonged to South African Alan Barrow).

Yashasvi Jaiswal after scoring 203 against Jharkhand in the Vijaya Hazare Trophy match.
| Photo Credit:
File photo: SUDHAKARA JAIN

A few days ago, Jaiswal had an opportunity to take an even more significant record off another South African. In the Dominican capital of Roseau, he was looking good enough for a double hundred when Alzarri Joseph produced a thin outside edge.

Jaiswal was thus caught behind for 171. On a slow track where patience and technique were always going to reward a batter handsomely, especially against a West Indies attack that looked as different as possible from the intimidating ones of the 1980s and 90s, he could have broken Jacques Rudolph’s record as the youngest to score a Test double hundred on debut. The South African was 21 years 355 days when he made an unbeaten 222 against Bangladesh at Chattogram in 2003 (It may be noted that he had played in the ‘unofficial’ Test at Centurion in 2001 following the ball-tampering and excessive appealing incident).

Jaiswal may not have broken Rudolph’s record, but he broke several, nevertheless, as he became the 17th Indian to score a hundred on Test debut. Perhaps the most significant among his records is that it is the longest innings by an Indian on Test debut. He batted for 501 minutes and faced 387 balls.

That shows his determination and temperament. It also shows that he is suited for the rigours of Test match cricket (even in these exciting times of Bazball). And remember, he is a young man who likes to get on with his act and is blessed with an array of shots and supreme self-confidence (he holds the record for the fastest IPL fifty – off 13 balls).

RR’s Yashasvi Jaiswal celebrates scoring the fastest IPL fifty runs during the IPL 2023 match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals.
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File photo: K.R. DEEPAK

The fact that he adapted himself adequately in his very first innings – which also fetched him the Player-of-the-Match award – augurs well for the future of India’s Test cricket. And it certainly won’t hurt having a quality left-hander at the top of the order as well.

Jaiswal’s style resembles that of probably India’s finest left-hander – Sourav Ganguly. Little wonder he is called Baby Ganguly.

Unlike Ganguly, who was born into a rich family in Kolkata, life hadn’t been easy for Jaiswal. When he was 12, he left his village in Bhadohi (Uttar Pradesh) for Mumbai, where he had to sleep in a tent and sell snacks to make some money. He had to get up early to train before the more privileged boys arrived and he would spend the night shadow practising.

Mumbai’s tradition of blooding them young saw him play for the senior side and he turned heads with his sensational show in the Vijay Hazare tournament in 2019. The following year, he was the leading scorer and the Player-of-the-Tournament at the Under-19 World Cup in South Africa.

India’s Yashasvi Jaiswal plays a shot during the ICC Under-19 World Cup Final between India and Bangladesh.
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File photo

Runs have continued to flow from his bat, in every format. He had three consecutive hundreds in the 2021-22 Ranji Trophy, made 497 runs at an average of 99.40 in the Duleep Trophy last year, and scored a double hundred and a hundred for Rest of India in the Irani Trophy match against Madhya Pradesh earlier this year. He took that form into the IPL, in which he smashed 625 runs at an average of 48.07 and a strike rate of 163.61.

Now it was up to the national selectors. They did the right thing: they picked a player when he was in top form. Then the team management in the West Indies did the right thing too: they found the opener’s slot for him, moving Shubman Gill to one drop.

Now, Jaiswal had to do the right thing, too. He did, didn’t he?