Yashasvi Jaiswal made an unbelievable and most inspiring journey from selling ‘Pani Puri’ during the evening and sleeping under a tent to becoming the youngest double centurion in the history of List A cricket at the age of 17 years, 292 days. Yashasvi Jaiswal came under the spotlight when he scored a double hundred while playing for Mumbai against Jharkhand in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2019-20 which made him the youngest batsman ever in List A cricket to score a double century. His career point changed when he was bought by an Indian Premier League (IPL) team Rajasthan Royals for a whopping INR 2.40 crores in IPL 2020 Auction.

Early Life

Jaiswal was born on 28 December 2001 in Suriyawan, Bhadohi, Uttar Pradesh, as the fourth of six children, to Bhupendra Jaiswal, the owner of a small hardware store, and Kanchan Jaiswal, a housewife. At the age of ten, he moved to Mumbai to receive cricket training at Azad Maidan. He was initially given accommodation in a dairy shop in return for work but was evicted by the shopkeeper as he was unable to work frequently. As a result, he lived in a tent with the groundsmen at the Maidan, where he sold panipuri to make ends meet.

After living in tents for three years, Jaiswal's cricketing potential was spotted in December 2013 by Jwala Singh, who ran a cricket academy in Santacruz. He provided Jaiswal with a place to stay, before becoming his legal guardian and obtaining his power of attorney.

Youth Career

Jaiswal first came to prominence in 2015 when he scored 319 not out and took 13/99 in a Giles Shield match, an all-round record in schools cricket in India. He was selected for the Mumbai under-16 squad and later the India national under-19 cricket team. Jaiswal was the highest run-scorer (318 runs) and player of the tournament at the 2018 Under-19 Asia Cup which India won.

In 2019, Jaiswal scored 173 from 220 balls in a Youth Test match against South Africa under-19s. Later that year, he scored 294 runs in seven matches, including four half-centuries, in the under-19 tri-series in England. In December 2019, he was named in India's squad for the 2020 Under-19 Cricket World Cup. Jaiswal was the leading run scorer in the tournament, including scoring a century against Pakistan under-19s in the semi-final.

Senior Career

Jaiswal made his first-class debut for Mumbai in the 2018–19 Ranji Trophy on 7 January 2019 and his List A debut on 28 September 2019 in the 2019–20 Vijay Hazare Trophy. On 16 October 2019, he scored 203 runs from 154 balls in a Vijay Hazare Trophy match against Jharkhand and became the youngest double centurion in the history of List A cricket at 17 years, 292 days. His innings included 17 fours and 12 sixes and he was one of the top five run-scorers during the competition, scoring 564 runs in six matches at a batting average of 112.80. He was named in the India B squad for the 2019–20 Deodhar Trophy.

International Career

In June 2023, Jaiswal received his maiden call up to India's Test squad for the series against the West Indies. He made his debut in the first Test of the series, hitting a century while opening the batting with a score of 171 runs. He also received the Player of the Match award. He made his T20I debut in the 3rd match of the T20I series against West Indies in August 2023. He scored his maiden T20I half-century –84* off 51 balls – in the fourth match of the series while sharing a 165-run opening partnership with Shubman Gill.

In January 2024, he was selected in India's squad for the 5-match Test series against England at home. In the first innings of the first Test, he scored 80 runs off just 74 balls. In the second match of the series, he made his maiden double century, scoring 209 runs off 290 balls in the first innings. He became the third youngest Indian batsman, after Sunil Gavaskar and Vinod Kambli, to score a double hundred in Test cricket. In the next match of the series, Jaiswal scored another double century, becoming third Indian batter after Vinod Kambli and Virat Kohli to hit double centuries in consecutive Test matches. He also hit 12 sixes during the innings, equaling the record of most sixes in a Test innings.

Jaiswal is the first player in Test history to hit 20 sixes in a series. After Sunil Gavaskar, he is the second Indian to score 500 runs in a Test series at the age of 22.