The 17-year-old young talent from Mumbai is making waves in Indian cricket. The young cricketer has already set a world record on Thursday as he became the youngest cricketer to score a double century in List A.
He registered a match-winning 153-ball 203 for Mumbai against Jharkhand in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Yashasvi smashed 7 fours and 12 sixes and kept everyone on the edge of their seats as he broke South African Alan Barrow’s record of becoming the youngest cricketer to score a double century in List A. This was Yashasvi’s third century in five matches in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
All thanks to his exceptional performances, his popularity has got a significant bump. However, his journey wasn’t easy. He came to Mumbai when he was 11-years-old with dreams of becoming a cricketer. In an interview with Hindustan Times, Yashasvi spoke about his journey. He said:
“Finding a place to stay was the hard part. I used to sleep in a dairy in Kalbadevi but they asked me to move out as I couldn’t help them much with the daily work. My parents requested my uncle to help me. I stayed at his place for a few days but it wasn’t big enough so he too had to ask me to find a different place,”
Though he spent almost all his day on the cricket field but he needed money to survive, therefore he started selling Pani Puris. He revealed:
“I was staying in a tent alright but I had no money to buy food. So I started selling paani puri during Ram Leela. I also did scoring, became a ball boy even when I was not asked to. Basically, I did everything through which I could earn money,”
However, in 2013 Jwala Singh, a former Junior Mumbai cricketer and Yashasvi’s coach spotted Yashasvi in Mumbai’s Azad Maidan. Impressed with his talent, he invited Yashvi for a meeting and things started taking shape for Yashasvi. He started living with Jwala at his place as a family member.
“Nothing came easy for me. Sir will always tell me that I have to earn everything. It was never about the money but the satisfaction when you get something after an achievement is immense,” Yashasvi said.
Talking about his future, he said:
“I don’t know what’s in store for me… Mujhe bas ye pata hai ki agar main apna present thik rakhunga to future apne aap sahi ho jayega,”
The 17-year-old is not just talented but is also very inspiring.
