Jaiswal Emphasizes Importance of Big Scores: ‘Every Innings Counts’

Yashasvi Jaiswal's remarkable journey from the streets of Mumbai to Test cricket stardom has captured hearts, with his recent century against England sealing India's historic victory in Rajkot.

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Yashasvi Jaiswal’s climb from the congested bylanes of Mumbai has already become folklore. He was 13 years old when he travelled from his village in Uttar Pradesh to the spiritual heartland of Indian cricket, where he fought a daily battle with himself and other prodigies like him to advance through the ranks. The obsessive need to run may originate from those early hardships. Jaiswal is only seven Tests into his career and has already joined an elite group of cricketers who have converted each of their first three Test centuries into 150+ scores. The third, an undefeated 214* in Rajkot against England, secured India’s largest [by runs] Test victory.

“In India, when you grow up, you work extremely hard for everything,” the 22-year-old told the host broadcaster on Sunday. “Even getting the bus requires a lot of effort. You have to work really hard to get to the train and auto and everything, and I’ve done that since I was a kid, and I know how important every innings is, which is why I work so hard in my [practice] sessions, and every innings counts for me and my team, which is my biggest motivation to play for my country, and I just make sure that whenever I’m there, I give my all and then enjoy.”

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The youthful opener arrived in Rajkot fresh off a sensational double century in Vizag, but he found the game to be a great leveller, falling to Mark Wood for a low score in the first innings in conditions he was widely expected to exploit. India even fell to 33/3 on the first morning of the Test before being rescued by two senior members of the team, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja, who shared a double-century stand.

“The way Rohit bhai and Jaddu bhai played in the first innings, that motivated me a lot,” he said. “Because the emotion was there, the conversation was there, and they were very determined to play session by session, and when I was inside [the dressing room], I kept thinking that when I get there, I need to make it count. The way they talked about the game and inspired us, I thought it was fantastic to see them put in so much effort.”

Drawing inspiration from the performances of Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja, Jaiswal adopted a similar focused approach in his second innings. Recognizing the significance of the third innings in the Test series, given the notable centuries by Ollie Pope and Shubman Gill in previous matches, Jaiswal initially played cautiously, scoring 29 runs from his first 64 balls. However, he swiftly transitioned to a more aggressive style and reached a century off just 122 balls. Despite facing challenges, such as back spasms, Jaiswal remained determined to contribute positively to the team’s performance. He emphasized the importance of providing a solid start and understood the impact of second innings performances in Test cricket, aiming to give his all for the team’s success.

“Suddenly, I became set and felt like I could score runs. I had a plan in which I could play all of my shots, and I tried to play only those shots to get those runs. After a while, my back was not feeling well. I didn’t want to retire, but it was too much. The next day, I had a lot of thoughts about how it might begin. But when I arrived, I tried to give myself time, and after that, I felt pretty fantastic.”

Jaiswal acknowledged trainers Rahul Dravid and Vikram Rathour for guiding him through the unpredictable aspect of international cricket. “As a cricket player, I always go with my emotions. Sometimes I do well, but sometimes I

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