‘Don’t like the story of him selling panipuri, he is playing cricket because of hard work’ – Former coach Jwala Singh on Yashasvi Jaiswal’s success

Yashasvi Jaiswal Century (Photo Source : BCCI/IPL)

Rajasthan Royals opener Yashasvi Jaiswal is currently the talk of the town after scoring a scintillating century against Mumbai Indians in the ongoing IPL 2023. Meanwhile, even though the Sanju Samson-led side lost the game by six wickets, Jaiswal was highly praised for his performance as India skipper Rohit Sharma, Tim David and Kumar Sangakkara among many others appreciated him for his incredible knock on April 30.

Notably, soon after his masterclass, Jaiswal’s story of having a humble background and selling panipuri on the streets of Mumbai went viral all over social media. Speaking about the same, his former coach, Jwala Singh stated that he is not a fan of the story and mentioned that it is because of the 22-year-old’s hard work that he is playing such a high-class brand of cricket.

“I really don’t like the story (selling panipuri). He is playing cricket because of hard work,” Jwala was quoted as saying by NDTV.

“Many sellers set up their stalls near the Azad Maidan. Sometimes when he would get free in the evenings, he used to help them a bit. He did not set up a stall himself. It is not that he sold panipuris and went on to play for India,” he added.

Since I had a stable life in Mumbai, I treated him like my own son: Jwala

Meanwhile, talking about Jaiswal’s journey as a cricketer, Jwala revealed that he met the cricketer’s father in 2013 when the latter asked the coach to make him a good cricketer. Jwala also stated that he treated the Mumbai-born cricketer as his own son since he had a stable life in the city.

“I met his father on December 25, 2013. He told me that I have made a God-like intervention in their lives. ‘Make him sweep and mop the floor but keep him under your wings and make him a cricketer’. It was as if his parents gave me his power of attorney saying he is completely under you.

Jwala also stated that post-2013, the cricketer didn’t struggle with poverty and that he signed his first contract worth INR 40,000.

“Since I had a stable life in Mumbai, I treated him like my own son. After 2013, there has been no such incident where he would have had to struggle. I got him his first bat contract worth Rs 40,000. I got him those bats which international players would use. There is no angle of poverty here after 2013. Whatever was, was before 2013. Because of these stories, at times, both he and I both get frustrated,” Jwala concluded.