A left-handed opening batter, Jaiswal gained particular attention when he scored double centuries in two consecutive test matches against England in a 5-match Test series in 2024. He is the third Indian batter to achieve the feat after Vinod Kambli and Virat Kohli. Yashasvi is the third youngest cricketer in Test history to have two double centuries to his name after Sir Don Bradman and Vinod Kambli.[4] In the same series, he equaled the world record held by Wasim Akram for the most number of sixes (12) scored by a cricketer in a test innings.[5] Also he became only the second Indian after Sunil Gavaskar to score 700 runs in a Test series.[6]
He was a member of the Indian squad which won the Gold Medal at the 2022 Asian Games in 2023 and the finalist squad of the 2020 Under-19 Cricket World Cup, where he was the Player of the Tournament[7] and the highest run scorer.[8] He was also a standby member of the Indian squad which played the 2023 ICC World Test Championship final and finished as runners up.[9] He was also a part of the Indian team which won the 2024 T20 World Cup, but did not feature in any of the matches during the tournament.
Early life
Yashasvi Jaiswal was born on 28 December 2001 in Suriyawan, Bhadohi, Uttar Pradesh, as the youngest of four children,[2] to Bhupendra Jaiswal, the owner of a small hardware store, and Kanchan Jaiswal, a housewife. He has an elder brother and two elder sisters. 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 due to his practice schedules. As a result, he lived in a tent with the groundsmen at the Maidan,[10] where he sold panipuri to make ends meet.[11]
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,[2][12] before becoming his legal guardian and obtaining his power of attorney.[10]
In 2019, Jaiswal scored 173 from 220 balls in a Youth Test match against South Africa under-19s.[17] Later that year, he scored 294 runs in seven matches, including four half-centuries, in the under-19 tri-series in England.[18] In December 2019, he was named in India's squad for the 2020 Under-19 Cricket World Cup.[19] Jaiswal was the leading run scorer in 2020 Under-19 Cricket World Cup and went on to win Player of the tournament which includes a century in the semifinal against Pakistan.
Senior career
Jaiswal in 2019
Jaiswal made his first-class debut for Mumbai in the 2018–19 Ranji Trophy on 7 January 2019[20] and his List A debut on 28 September 2019 in the 2019–20 Vijay Hazare Trophy.[21] 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[22][23] 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.[24] He was named in the India B squad for the 2019–20 Deodhar Trophy.[25]
In June 2023, Jaiswal received his maiden call up to India's Test squad for the series against the West Indies.[31] 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.[32] He made his T20I debut in the 3rd match of the T20I series against West Indies in August 2023.[33] 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.[34][35]
Jaiswal meeting Narendra Modi in 2024
In January 2024, he was selected in India's squad for the 5-match Test series against England at home.[36] In the first innings of the first Test, he scored 80 runs off just 74 balls.[37] 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.[38][39] 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.[40]
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. He also scored the most runs for an Indian in a Test series against England.[41]
Jaiswal was bought by Rajasthan Royals in 2020,[44] but he didn't play any matches that season. In the next season, while he didn't play the first match, he scored nearly 200 runs with a fifty against the eventual champions Chennai Super Kings. Despite that, RR did not qualify for the playoffs.
The 2022 season was much different, especially for Jaiswal. He only scored 25 runs in the first 3 matches and was dropped for the next 6 matches. The next match against the Delhi Capitals, he scored 19 runs. The following match, he led RR in scoring, scoring 41 runs against Lucknow Super Giants. He scored his first 50 the next match, again against CSK. RR did really well that season, finishing second. They qualified for the playoffs, and were instantly looked down on as Gujarat Titans easily beat them by 7 wickets. Jaiswal himself was not great, only scoring 3 runs. RR were tested yet again as they faced Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Jaiswal scored only 21 runs. However, Jos Buttler scored a magnificent century, and RR won the match by a comfortable 7 wickets. In the final against GT, the whole RR batting lineup flopped and only managed 130, with Jaiswal scoring 22.
In the 2024 season, Jaiswal scored an unbeaten 104 to lead RR to victory over Mumbai Indians.[45] RR eventually made it to the playoffs, but lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad in the semi-final.
