For Yashasvi Jaiswal, who got his maiden call-up in the India Test side when the squad for the upcoming two-Test series in the West Indies was announced on Friday, it was the culmination of a journey he had embarked on almost a decade ago.
Having left his home in Bhadohi, Uttar Pradesh, spending early teenage years at a tent at the Azad Maidan here and doing the hard yards in Maximum City under his coach Jwala Singh, an India cap wasn’t everything for the 21-year-old batting prodigy. But it was the only thing he aspired for.
It was never about how he would get there but when. On Friday afternoon the news came, and there was pure joy and elation in equal measure for the left-hander.
The young batter said that he was both nervous and excited over the possibility of his call-up to the India Test side, a dream that turned into reality after putting in splendid performances across formats in domestic cricket as well as in this year’s IPL.
“My father started crying (when he got to know),” Jaiswal said. He will be heading to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore soon to prepare for the West Indies tour.
The 21-year-old was also among the standby players for the World Test Championship final earlier this month and a call-up for the West Indies tour for two Tests was inevitable after he had proved himself across formats.
“It was good to learn that I’m now a part of the Indian team. But it’s also important that I try to control myself emotionally as much as I can. I know there are both good and bad sides of things, so I try to remain stable,” he emphasised.
Jaiswal admitted being a little nervous till the time he saw his name in the squad. “I was a little nervous. Till the time you do not get to know that your name is there in the team, there are butterflies. But it is a good feeling.
“My preparations have been going well and I got to interact a lot with the senior players. The conversation has been very simple — to focus on my work. I learnt from them that in the end, ‘It is all about you, how you take it going forward’,” said Jaiswal, adding that he has interacted a lot with India captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane.
The left-handed batter said India head coach Rahul Dravid’s message for him has been to keep doing things that work in his favour.
“It has just been about keeping my focus on the right things and doing what I’ve been all this while.
“I have to keep things simple and maintain discipline, which are really important,” Jaiswal said.
