‘If I fail it’s okay, I will try again’: Yashasvi Jaiswal

Two Irani Cup hundreds once again celebrate Yashasvi Jaiswal’s potential

Twenty one is no age to introspect. But if you happen to be Yashasvi Jaiswal, it’s difficult not to remind him of what he has done, and by extension what he is expected to do. Youngest double centurion in List A cricket and Player of the Tournament in the 2020 U-19 World Cup, Jaiswal jostles with the reality of an unforgiving domestic circuit and an even more demanding Indian Premier League while many desperately wait on the sidelines to replace him.

Jaiswal hit two hundreds–213 and 144–for Rest of India at the Irani Cup in Gwalior last weekend (BCB)

It’s against this backdrop Jaiswal hit two hundreds–213 and 144–for Rest of India at the Irani Cup in Gwalior last weekend. A good measure of the ease with which Jaiswal batted throughout the match is his boundary count–30 in the first innings (Abhimanyu Easwaran’s 17 boundaries was the next best in that innings) and 16 in the second (Atith Seth’s five boundaries was second best) innings. Even more compelling were the strike rates–82.23 and 91.71–when batting looked difficult for most of the other batters.

“It was quite difficult initially but I took my time,” says Jaiswal. “I focus on reading the game properly, playing (out) the session and whatever shots I can play. Playing till the end, that was the only thing on my mind.”

It’s a philosophy that has held Jaiswal in good stead in big matches, be it in the 2022 Ranji Trophy semi-final against Uttar Pradesh where he scored two hundreds (100 & 181) or the Duleep Trophy final where he hammered 265 in 323 balls for West Zone in the second innings. The Irani Cup came to Jaiswal in a slightly challenging scenario of having strung only two hundreds in the last three months. But Jaiswal was ready, thanks to his rigorous training.

“Playing for Mumbai, it’s always hard cricket, khadoos cricket,” says Jaiswal. “You make sure you make it big. That’s something I learnt here. If you get set, try to make it big. I try to do that all the time.”

Go big, or go home–Jaiswal knows nothing else matters. This attitude has always been the crux of his credibility, right from when he scored 113, 22, 122, 203 and 60* in the Vijay Hazare Trophy in October 2019.

Till then, Jaiswal was a beguiling story of struggle, of a starry-eyed kid moving from Uttar Pradesh’s Bhadohi to play cricket for Mumbai, sleeping in Azad Maidan tents, not being able to afford three square meals a day and selling pani-puri after training. Two months later, he was picked by Rajasthan Royals for ₹2.4 crore even though he had not played T20 cricket at the senior level till then. Further proof of his promise came in February, where he topped the Under-19 World Cup with 400 runs in six innings.

The transition to IPL was more difficult than Jaiswal would have anticipated. Starts weren’t converted, strike rates dropped, averages too took a few hits. All that seemed history though in the IPL 2022 final, when Jaiswal backed away to smear Mohammed Shami for a six. But he could only score 22. Jaiswal has taken that disappointment in his stride. “We were just trying to score as quickly as we could,” he says. “It’s okay. We can’t do how we want to. It’s fine I think.”

What has helped Jaiswal’s confidence of course is the long rope given both by Mumbai and Rajasthan Royals. And so records like joint-fastest to 1000 first-class runs (13 innings, along with Rusi Modi and Amol Muzumdar) keep happening to Jaiswal because he too hasn’t wavered from the philosophy of enjoying his batting. There was never any doubt about the talent. But not overthinking his game really allowed Jaiswal to come into his own. “I think I just need to work and do what I do. I am not thinking about anything else.”

Disclaimers like these are increasingly thrown around these days but Jaiswal also doesn’t hesitate from accepting failures and moving on. “It’s been an amazing journey. Sometimes if I am down, it makes me feel that I have done a lot. I will not give up. I will try my best all the time and try to win it. I know how hard I have worked to reach here. But there is nothing to lose. If I fail it’s okay. I will try again. I will learn something and I will grow. ”