Yashasvi Jaiswal’s blazing moment of glory after hard road to stardom

Yashasvi Jaiswal’s journey to Test cricket is one of incredible hardship. And as he celebrated his century in Perth by pointing at the heavens, he had not only created a moment of glory for himself, but a moment that nobody watching will never forget.

Harshit Rana won me over on Saturday. No, not with ball in hand. I mean, of course he impressed me, like he did everyone around Perth Stadium and the cricket world with his exploits in his maiden outing as a Test bowler. But this was more through what he said at his first-ever press conference as a Test cricketer.

My question to him was about what he thought of the enormity of making his Test debut in Australia. Not just in terms of playing against the world champions but also within the cauldron of an Australian cricket stadium and in front of an Aussie crowd. The aura of playing Test cricket in this wondrous land that all of us grew up dreaming about as young kids in India.

So when Rana spoke about his recollections of waking up at 6am and watching Test cricket from Australia on the TV during the chilly Delhi winters with his father, I wanted to give him a hug. For I could relate with every bit of it.

Fast bowler Harshit Rana leaps in the air to celebrate taking the wicket of Nathan Lyon in Australia’s first innings at Perth. Picture: AFP

That was the ritual in my household too through the 1990s. My father waking up my brother and me before the break of dawn and us huddling up on the couch to listen to Richie Benaud and Bill Lawry. Australia is indeed the El Dorado for anyone watching or playing cricket in India, the land we think about as being too good to be true. Surely, the sky couldn’t be that blue. Surely, the outfield couldn’t be that lush green or that vast. Surely, the stump mic couldn’t be that loud.

So even if only vicariously, I could sort of understand why Rana or Nitish Kumar Reddy would have wanted to pinch themselves.

I couldn’t say the same about Yashasvi Jaiswal though. There’s no way I can relate with his journey. Nor can any of us. Unlike me, or Rana or Reddy, Jaiswal didn’t have a home or a TV to bother himself with fantasising about Test cricket in Australia. He might have overhead some others talking about it while he was in the midst of a cricket match. But not like he would have bothered about it much.

Because nothing has ever been able to deter or distract the young kid with the remarkable rags to riches story from doing the one thing that he was seemingly born to do, to keep batting and scoring runs. Often that was the only real currency he had after all. When you don’t have a proper bed to sleep on, or proper food to eat, things like sitting and wondering about what life or cricket must be like in Australia is a bit of a luxury at best.

Yashasvi Jaiswal celebrates reaching his century on Sunday in Perth. Picture: Getty Images

So, when Jaiswal walked out to bat at the Perth Stadium on Friday, and then again on Saturday, it was just another cricket match for him. Just another chance to bat. Just another chance to make a mark. Just another chance to live his dream.

It didn’t seem to matter who was bowling to him. It didn’t seem to matter how big the stadium was. It didn’t seem to matter how noisy the crowd was. For Jaiswal, it was like it has always been, ever since he hopped on a train with his brother and travelled 1500km in an unreserved compartment to Mumbai some dozen years ago.

To see that cricket ball coming his way and to hit it as hard as he can. For Jaiswal, unlike a lot of us, including Rana and Reddy, it was more a case of him learning about the charm of playing in Australia in the moment, rather than living out a fantasy.

It’s a skill that even the greatest batters often end up never quite achieving, regardless of how long they play. The ability to forget about the previous innings or the previous delivery and to stay in the present. But staying in the present has more or less been the reality of Yashasvi Jaiswal’s life. Often the only thing in his control. Often the only way out from his predicament.

You can see it in the way he bats too, where he’s able to completely immerse himself into every delivery he faces, every shot he plays. Whether it’s while defending off the front foot against Pat Cummins or swinging Mitchell Starc over the deep backward square-leg fence. Both with the same level of commitment, and the same level of conviction.

And as he stood with his hands aloft and pointing at the heavens, he had not only created a moment of glory for himself, but also produced a moment that nobody at Perth Stadium or anyone watching around the world will never forget.