NEW DELHI: India’s Perth Test hero Yashasvi Jaiswal, who hit a stunning century on Sunday, rose to stardom from being homeless and selling snacks on the streets to finance his cricketing ambitions.
The 22-year-old opening batsman turned an overnight 90 into 161 on day three in the opening match of the five-Test series against Australia.
It was his fourth ton in his 15th Test.
He hit 171 last year on his debut against the West Indies, off a grueling 387 deliveries over more than eight hours at the crease in Dominica.
He smacked two double centuries against visiting England earlier this year.
The attacking left-handed batsman burst into the consciousness of cricket-mad India with a stellar showing in the Indian Premier League last year.
He was snapped up by Rajasthan Royals in the 2019 IPL auction and last season made one half of a fearsome opening pair with England’s white-ball captain Jos Buttler, amassing 625 runs with a strike rate of more than 163.
After his latest heroics, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar said it was all the more special because he had “come the hard way.”
The batting great called Jaiswal a “wonderful role model for those who come from the villages to the cities,” showing how if “you work hard, you’re dedicated, you have a dream, you can fulfil it.”
“This boy is a man,” Gavaskar said in his commentary show.
English commentator Mark Nicholas said:
“This innings will announce him as a star is really born.”
Jaiswal dreamed of playing for India and moved to the financial capital Mumbai at just 11 years old, leaving his parents back home in their village.
“I used to sleep in a dairy and then stayed at my uncle’s place, but it wasn’t big enough and he asked me to find a different place,” Jaiswal told AFP in an interview in 2020.
“I then started to stay in a tent near Azad Maidan” — a field considered the birthplace of cricket in India — “and would play cricket there during the day.”
In between he sold popular street snacks to make enough money to pay for his own meals, supplementing a side hustle in cricket scoring and ball fetching in club games.
Jaiswal eventually won a place in the Mumbai state team in 2019 and became the youngest batsman, at 17 years and 292 days, to score a domestic one-day double century.
‘Star is born’: From homeless to Test hero for India’s Jaiswal
https://arab.news/gkpqz
‘Star is born’: From homeless to Test hero for India’s Jaiswal
- Yashasvi Jaiswal, 22, put India in driving seat against Australia in Perth with stellar century
- A young, homeless Jaiswal used to sell snacks on the streets to finance cricketing ambitions
Stokes calls on England to ‘show a bit of dog’ in must-win Adelaide Test
ADELAIDE: Ben Stokes has called on England to “show a bit of dog” in the must-win third Ashes Test against Australia on Wednesday after “raw” conversations following heavy defeats in Perth and Brisbane.
The tourists have crashed to consecutive eight-wicket losses and must snap a 17-match winless streak in Australia at Adelaide Oval to keep the five-match series alive.
They have made just one change with Josh Tongue replacing fellow quick Gus Atkinson, while off-spinning allrounder Will Jacks kept his place ahead of Shoaib Bashir.
England skipper Stokes said after the Gabba defeat that Australia was “no place for weak men” and admitted to “raw” dressing room conversations in the aftermath.
“We don’t do getting into rooms and have big things up on the screen. We have proper, meaningful conversations. What’s been said has been said,” he told English media.
“I’ve done all the talking over the last two days that I needed to. All that stuff’s done now, so it’s about what gets seen out on the field in Adelaide this week.”
Stokes was called “the most competitive person I’ve ever come across” by former England captain Alastair Cook last week and the 34-year-old allrounder demanded more fight from his team.
“It’s just about trying to fight in every situation that you find yourself in, understanding the situation and what you feel is required for your team,” said Stokes.
“Just look at your opposition every single time and show a bit of dog. That’s fight to me. You’re giving yourself the best possible chance if you’ve got a bit of dog in you.”
He cited England’s battling third Test win against India at Lord’s in July as an example of the grit he wanted to see in Adelaide, with the hosts winning by 22 runs deep into day five after a time-wasting row.
“That’s exactly what I’m on about,” he said.
“We were probably in a situation where we would have to be absolutely perfect to win that game and we were.
“The attitude and the mentality toward that specific situation is what gave us the best chance of winning that game.”
Since arriving in Australia, England have been under intense media scrutiny and faced hostile crowds at Perth and Brisbane.
Just five of the players used so far had previously played an Ashes series in Australia and Stokes acknowledged it had been confronting for the newcomers.
“Honestly, I think so,” he said. “Now I feel everyone has experienced that and probably at its highest level, so we all know what it’s going to be like.
“So for the next three games there isn’t going to be any of that ‘I didn’t expect this’ or ‘it’s the first time I’ve had this’.”
