Forbes India 30 Under 30 2025: Yashasvi Jaiswal and art of putting price on wicket

[CAPTION] Indian cricketer, Yashasvi Jaiswal Image: Neha Mithbawkar For Forbes India; Imaging By Kapil Kashyap; Background Image: Shutterstock Outfit: ‘Coastal Odyssey’ Jacket, ‘Script Spray Paint’ Tee, Both The Khwaab; ‘Midnight Flared Jeans, Overbar; Golden Tone Chain, Bracelet, Mesh Ring, Wayfinder Compass Signet Ring, All Inox Jewelry. Styled By Lehan Devadhia, Assisted By Asmita Bhosle; Makeup And Hair: Sanah Kewal[/CAPTION]

Yashasvi Jaiswal’s early tryst with the Mumbai maidans is well-known by now. The 10-year-old from Uttar Pradesh’s Bhadohi had landed up in the city in 2010 to play cricket, and spent over two years at a club tent at the Azad Maidan, in abysmal living conditions and selling pani puris to survive, before a coach spotted him and took him in. That was 2013.

By the end of 2024, Jaiswal had done enough to redeem the struggles of his past. In a year the Indian top-order batters were panned for a dismal show, he emerged as the second-highest Test run-getter, and was the highest Indian run-getter in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. All four Test centuries he has scored since his debut in July 2023 have been 150+, two of them double centuries. But what’s shone through is a key attribute imbibed from the maidans—the ability to put a price on his wicket.
    
“Maidan cricket in Mumbai has been important for me, especially for playing Tests. Here, the mindset is to score big, not just a century. No one notices a century,” says Jaiswal, who idolised Sachin Tendulkar while growing up. “When people around you speak about big runs, the idea gets implanted in your head. That’s why my quest always remains to score big runs.”  

If scoring big is his thing, so is going the distance. In 2024, he hit the highest number of sixes struck in Tests in a calendar year—at 36, he has overtaken explosive batters like Brendon McCullum and Virender Sehwag. Jaiswal credits the Indian Premier League (IPL) and Rajasthan Royals (RR), his IPL franchise, with honing his six-hitting ability. “The tournament has helped me learn how to score quickly,” he says. 

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If scoring big is his thing, so is going the distance. In 2024, he hit the highest number of sixes struck in Tests in a calendar year—at 36, he has overtaken explosive batters like Brendon McCullum and Virender Sehwag. Jaiswal credits the Indian Premier League (IPL) and Rajasthan Royals (RR), his IPL franchise, with honing his six-hitting ability. “The tournament has helped me learn how to score quickly,” he says.

IPL 2021, says Jaiswal, was a key turning point for his career. In the previous season, he managed just 40 runs in three matches at a strike rate (the number of runs per 100 balls) of a meagre 90.90—but his statistics have only crept up ever since. 2023 was a standout season where he totalled 625 runs in 14 matches, with a century and five 50s. “Zubin [Bharucha] sir has been my mentor for some years now, and, at RR’s high-performance centre in Nagpur, they have given me a nice setup to prepare well,” says Jaiswal.  

Bharucha, the director of high performance for RR, recalls the first day they saw Jaiswal at the trials. “Normally, at trials, nobody really knows what type of ball the bowlers are capable of bowling until you have seen a few. However, this didn’t stop him from walking across his stumps on the very first ball and flicking it over the fine leg fielder for four,” says Bharucha. “There was no need to see anymore… even if he had got out on that ball, we would have selected him, given that one of keys to being a successful batter is courage.”

Adds Bharucha: “While his hunger was comparable to some of the greats we have seen at RR before, like Rahul Dravid, there was little understanding around the methodology to eliminate his errors and develop new skills. The conversation that we had with him was that if he wanted to be better than the best, huge sacrifices would need to be made.”

“I can sacrifice everything for cricket,” says Jaiswal. And it’s not a mere lofty statement. He has spent days at RR’s high-performance centre hitting thousands of balls, perfecting shots by playing them over and over. “There were many occasions when there was blood on his palms,” says Bharucha. “But he never left the field till a particular problem was resolved.” If there was ever a proof of the pudding, it would be in the way in which he hit, with absolute ease, Jimmy Anderson and Mitchell Starc for three consecutive sixes and four boundaries in an over, respectively.

Jaiswal has an inherent trust in his abilities. ‘I believe’ and ‘I trust’ are tattooed on his two arms, and it’s a maxim he lives by. “I am not afraid to face any bowler,” he says. “I always know that I will find a solution to all problems.”

With his selection for the Champions Trophy, the young batter has now completed his entry into all formats. But whatever the format may be, his cricket philosophy remains constant: “I look forward to scoring many runs, I look forward to winning many championships for India,” he says.

Yashasvi Jaiswal (23)
Cricketer