Yashasvi Jaiswal‘s rise from the maidaans of Mumbai to scoring centuries for India is a tale in itself. The India youngster, who made his Test debut for India last August against West Indies, scored a double century last week in the 2nd Test against England and seems to be on his way to cementing his place as their opener along with Rohit Sharma. Several people have played a role in Jaiswal’s career – his father, coach – but the first signs of ambitions in him was noticed by none other than the legendary Dilip Vengsarkar.
The former BCCI chairman of selectors shared the story of taking Jaiswal overseas during his teenage years, where he flourished by accumulating runs and displaying his immense potential. From there, Jaiswal’s career took off. In 2020, he was the highest run-getter at the Under-19 World Cup as India finished runner-up. With a string of impressive performances behind him, Rajasthan Royal identified his potential and struck a contract with him and last year, he repaid that faith by scoring 625 runs for them.
“I had taken him to England when he was 14 or 15 years of age, and as we all know, he comes from a very humble background. In England, he scored in every match and we could see the hunger in him. I knew this kid would go places with the talent he possessed. He then went on to play for India U-19 and scored plenty of runs in the World Cup, which supported his cause by getting picked by the IPL franchise, Rajasthan Royals. I am extremely happy about him and now he is the captain of Dadar Union as well, where I played for 25 years,” Vengsarkar told RevSportz.
Vengsarkar still has a keen eye for spotting talent
Vengsarkar is not new to spotting talent. In the mid-2000s, it was he who noticed what a young Virat Kohli was capable of… and the rest as they say is history. Having unearthed a plethora of young talent who went on to play for India, Vengsarkar’s penchant is undying. Even to this day, he possesses a keen eye for spotting special young talents, as evidenced by his belief in the potential of Rajat Patidar and Sarfaraz Khan, whom he identifies as the latest prospects destined for success.
“There are a lot of good players all around. I think [Rajat] Patidar is good and I watched him play around four years ago. However, he did not get an opportunity back then. Sarfaraz [Khan] is good as well, but he also has not gotten the opportunity at the right time. I think the timing has to be precise in these situations – provide opportunity to these youngsters when they are in great form. If you lose that time, then the player might lose his form, interest, or fitness,” added Vengsarkar.
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