Yashasvi Jaiswal is not a name that would be familiar to most Australian cricket fans now, but he’s sure to be soon.
The 21-year-old prodigy has been setting the Indian Premier League alight with his big hitting in a breakout year for the Rajasthan Royals.
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Jaiswal was snapped up in the 2019 auction, but has not impressed his talent on the competition to date.
His extraordinary story has taken a turn even he couldn’t imagine now, coming second in the batting standings with 575 runs this season at a mind-boggling strike rate of 167, and averaging 52.27 with the bat.
Jaiswal hails from the rural town of Suriyawan in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, and moved to Mumbai aged 10 to pursue cricket on the city’s famous Azad Maidan.
Far away from his family at a tender age, Jaiswal found himself offered a tent to sleep in on the condition he performed for the “Muslim United Sports Club” in Mumbai, before a ragtag existence sleeping hungry and selling street food to make ends meet.
In a tale that sounds like it’s out of a Hollywood movie, he was spotted by a cricketing scout in December 2013, who would eventually become his legal guardian.
Jaiswal went on to star for India’s Under-19s at the 2020 Under-19 World Cup and became the youngest List A double centurion in history, a mere fortnight after his debut for Mumbai.
Hitting 26 runs off his first over, Jaiswal only missed out on triple figures because the Royals chased down Kolkata’s modest 150 with 41 balls to spare, finishing unbeaten on 98 with 12 fours and five sixes off 47 deliveries.
It was the second fastest half-century in T20 history, bettered only by Indian legend Yuvraj Singh’s effort during the 2007 World Cup, where he famously hit Stuart Broad for six sixes in an over.
Indian superstar Virat Kohli, himself arguably the finest batter in Indian cricket history, posted an Instagram story with highlights of Jaiswal’s innings.
“Wow, this is some of the best batting I’ve seen in a while,” the former Indian captain said.
“What a talent.”