NEW DELHI: Due to his elegant batting style, consistency and run scoring with flair, Shubman Gill is often referred as the ‘Prince of Indian cricket’.
But the Australia media has heralded India’s gun opener Yashasvi Jaiswal as ‘The New King’.
Yashasvi Jaiswal’s journey in cricket is a story of perseverance and talent. From humble beginnings, he has quickly risen to become one of India’s most promising young batsmen, impressing fans and critics alike with his stellar performances in domestic cricket and the IPL.
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Born in Uttar Pradesh, Jaiswal moved to Mumbai at a young age with dreams of becoming a cricketer. His early life was marked by hardships; he lived in tents, sold street food, and struggled to make ends meet while training.
But his dedication and resilience shone through and made his Test debut with a bang with an astonishing 171 against the West Indies at Roseau in July 2023.
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Jaiswal showed his appetite for big knocks when he smashed 209 and an unbeaten 214 against England at Visakhapatnam and Rajkot respectively in February 2024.
Last month in October, Jaiswal made history by becoming the first Indian batter to score 1,000 Test runs in a calendar year before turning 23. The milestone came during the second Test against New Zealand at Pune’s MCA Stadium.
Jaiswal became only the fifth batter in history to accomplish this feat, placing his name alongside some of the game’s greatest.
After 14 Tests, Jaiswal has scored 1407 runs at an average of 56.28.
Now as Team India is touring Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the journey of Jaiswal has been chronicled in Australian newspaper The Daily Telegraph.
Not just that, the front page of the newspaper has a picture of Virat Kohli with a title in Hindi that translates to ‘Fight for the ages’ and has Jaiswal on the back page with the title in Punjabi that translates to ‘The New King’.
The report, that heralds Jaiswal as India’s next superstar, states that the opener is on track to succeed Kohli.
The report says, “Yashasvi Jaiswal is the most aggressive opener to come out of India since Virender Sehwag and the country’s most exciting batter since Virat Kohli.”
But the report also raises questions whether Jaiswal has it in him to succeed on his maiden trip to Australia.
The report says, “The bulk of Jaiswal’s success to date has come in the drier conditions of the subcontinent and the Caribbean. In his lone Test tour of South Africa, he averaged 12.50 and in three of his four innings he was done in by the bounce.”
But Jaiswal has the vote of confidence from his captain and opening partner Rohit Sharma.
Before the Test series against New Zealand, Rohit had remarked, “I’m not surprised by how Yashasvi has adapted to international cricket. He has real talent and the game to play in all sorts of conditions. Despite being very young, he has shown the capability to manage himself well in various situations. He possesses all the ingredients necessary for success at this level.”
Rohit continued to emphasize Jaiswal’s promising future, saying, “It’s crucial how he manages himself in the next couple of years. He can do wonders for the team. Having played a lot of domestic and Under-19 cricket, where he has succeeded, it’s clear why he’s now playing for India. In his short career, he has already shown what he is capable of, and he has done exceptionally well.”
The Test series in Australia will be very crucial for Jaiswal and success Down Under will determine whether he can succeed Kohli to be ‘The New King’ and if he has it in him to be ‘India’s next superstar’.
The first Test of the series gets underway in Perth from November 22 and India need to win 4 Tests in Australia to directly qualify for the World Test Championships final that is scheduled to be held at Lord’s in June 2025.