Mumbai cricket coach Jwala Singh has watched thousands of children batting on the dirt pitches of the city’s Azad Maidan. But only one changed his life.
Ten years ago, Singh had just finished watching a routine academy game when he noticed two boys batting in the nets next to the field. The right-handed batsman struggled with the uneven wicket and complained loudly, while the left-hander adapted to the pitch and bowling with the minimum of fuss. Singh immediately knew he had seen something special in the young boy and asked who he was.
“My friend started saying that this boy doesn’t have a house, doesn’t have food, and he is just around 12 years of age, and he said that I have a fear that he may run into the wrong hands and can lose his life,” Singh said.
“Then that small boy came out from the nets and he just removed his helmet, and so I asked him, ‘What’s your name?’ He said, ‘My name is Yashasvi Jaiswal’.
“So I said, ‘Where are you living?’ and, ‘Where are you from?’ He said, ‘I’m from Uttar Pradesh, I live in a tent … and I’m staying here alone for cricket’.”
Two years before the chance encounter with Singh, Jaiswal had travelled for more than 24 hours to Mumbai from his small hometown of Suriyawan, in one of India’s poorest states, with his father, Bhupendra.
Cricket coach Jwala Singh spotted Yashasvi Jaiswal’s talent on the Azad Maidan in Mumbai.Credit: Jwala Singh
They had planned simply to visit the city, but within days Jaiswal had told his father that he wanted to stay and try to make it as a cricketer. Jaiswal initially stayed with an uncle, but with little space in the home he moved into the groundsmen’s tent at the maidan – a vast sports ground containing 22 cricket pitches which have produced numerous Test stars including Sachin Tendulkar. To survive, Jaiswal sold the Indian street snack pani puri to passersby.
Singh immediately recognised the boy’s rare talent. But he also saw in Jaiswal a younger version of himself. Singh had one made the same journey from Uttar Pradesh to chase his dream of becoming a Test cricketer, and understood Jaiswal’s determination to make it in the sport against the odds.
Singh had played professional club cricket, but had never achieved his goal of playing for his country. He believed Jaiswal could go all the way.
“He told me, ‘My father and mother are not here and my knee is also in pain, I don’t know what will happen’,” Singh said.
Jaiswal bats in the nets at Perth in preparation for the first Test.Credit: Getty Images
“As he was talking about himself, I really started thinking that this is the same story [as me]. I was struggling when I came to Mumbai, so I think that motivates me a lot, that this is the boy to fulfil my dreams. I promised myself years back that I will make [it as an India player.
“So this is the boy where I can work [it] out. And then I said, ‘OK, don’t worry, you just come to my academy. I’ll spend a few days with you and if I feel there’s something, I will definitely help you’.”
Jwala Singh coaching a young Jaiswal.Credit: Jwala Singh
Jaiswal moved into Singh’s house in 2013 and, under the coach’s tutelage, the route to making it as a cricketer gradually became clearer. There were obvious physical gifts, in terms of his hand-eye coordination and shot selection, but Singh also needed to work closely to help build the young boy’s mental strength, which had been dented by his early experiences in Mumbai.
“He was a very small boy, there was a lack of confidence because people had put a lot of doubts in his brain,” Singh said. “Psychologically, he was very down. His fitness was not that great because he had a knee injury. So if I tell you frankly that it was my passion to make him my [first] India player.”
Singh slowly built up Jaiswal’s confidence through countless hours in the nets and introduced him to former India players such as Dilip Vengsarkar and Wasim Jaffer, who acted as informal mentors off the field.
Jaiswal stood out among his peers for his ability to stay in and bat for long periods, rarely losing his wicket cheaply. Living with Singh may have introduced Jaiswal to the level of professionalism required to reach the top, but the youngster retained the joy of playing on the maidan, where the goal was simply to bat and bat and bat.
In 2020, he was named Player of the Tournament fin the Under-19 World Cup in South Africa, helping him to win an IPL contract with the Rajasthan Royals. In his Test debut last July, against the West Indies, he scored 171 in his first innings. The shy young boy who had arrived in Mumbai with a dream of making a living in cricket had become an elite international player, pursued by selfie-seeking fans.
Life for Singh at his academy near Mumbai airport has never been busier. In some ways he has become a victim of his own coaching success. Every week, he fields inquiries from families who want their child to stay with him in the hope of replicating Jaiswal’s success.
The attention on his famous pupil grew even more frenzied after the Test series in England at the start of the year, where he scored his maiden double century in the second Test and followed it up with another in the third Test.
Jaiswal understands that the next step in his journey is to prove he can flourish on Australian wickets.
“I think that in four or five years, yes, he can become the next legend of Indian cricket,” Singh said. “I think the goal is not only to represent India, the goal is to become the next legend.”
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