After Australian media hailed India’s young opener as the ‘New King’ while predicting his success in the Border Gavaskar Trophy beginning November 22 in Perth, the 22-year-old batsman’s coach Jwala Singh has added the phrase ‘next legend’ to that prediction.
Jaiswal is set for his first match on Australian soil, which will probably be the stiffest challenge he has faced so far in his flourishing career. But Singh had no doubt whatsoever about the success of his famous student.
“I think that in four or five years, yes, he can become the next legend of Indian cricket,” said the coach as quoted by ‘The Sydney Morning Herald’. “I think the goal is not only to represent India, but the goal also is to become the next legend.”
In 14 Tests since making his debut in 2023 against the West Indies, Jaiswal hasn’t looked back — scoring 1407 runs at an average of 56.28, including 3 hundreds, two of which he converted into double hundreds. He has also scored 8 fifties.
Singh discovered Jaiswal a decade ago when he was just 12 and was batting in the nets, without complaining about the uneven nature of the practice wicket. The young boy was struggling at that time even for a square meal besides a place to live in Mumbai.
“That small boy came out from the nets, and he just removed his helmet, and I asked him…’Where are you living? Where are you from?’ He said, ‘I am from Uttar Pradesh, I live in a tent…and I’m staying here alone for cricket,” Singh recalled.
At that time, Jaiswal was staying with his uncle and later shifted to the groundsman’s tent at the Azad Maidan.
“As he was talking about himself, I really started thinking that this is the same story (as mine). 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 him an India player,” the coach added.
“Psychologically, he was very down. His fitness was not that great because he had a knee injury. So if I tell you frankly, it was my passion to make him my (first) India player.”
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