'Yashasvi never sold panipuris to earn his living': Jaiswal's coach debunks popular story

Yashasvi Jaiswal is a name that has gripped the nation with his swashbuckling batting and gritty performance in the 1st Test match against West Indies. His elegant batting has earned him comparisons with the legendary Brian Lara, the prince of Trinidad. Much ahead of the India vs West Indies 1st Test, there was a lot of debate on where Yashasvi should bat as Shubman Gill has already cemented his position as an opener across formats for the Indian cricket team. But Jaiswal got the nod ahead of Shubman and he has made every bit of his opportunity count.

Everytime Yashasvi performs well on the cricketing field, a narrative from his past comes out. Time and again it has been said that the Rajasthan Royals opener used to sell pani puris to fund his cricket training. In an exclusive interview with Republic World, Yashasvi Jaiswal's childhood coach Jwala Singh completely ruled out these rumours and said that this story is being blown out of proportion just to attract more eyeballs and there is hardly any truth to it. Jaiswal has become a sensation and is being touted to be the next batting sensation for team India, but let's not forget that his childhood coach has had an immense contribution to his life and his cricketing prowess and he feels that these kinds of stories just demean him and the hardwork that he has put in to make Jaiswal the hero that he is today.

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Coach Jwala Singh while addressing 'panipuri' rumours said:

I had requested few media people many times to interview Yashasvi but they kept turning me down. Suddenly one day, without asking me or taking my permission they tried to contact and interview Yashasvi. I was in England at that time. Without even consulting with me, they met Yashasvi who was just 16 at that time. Yashasvi then contacted me and said that a few journalists want to interview him and I said okay, go ahead. They ended up asking him a few personal questions and Yashasvi, out of his innocence ended up mentioning the panipuri incident. Just to give their stories weightage, they used the panipuri topic as their headline. Even I was shocked by the story because I raised him as my son, and gave him all the facilities. Everytime Jaiswal performs, there is a picture of him that comes out with a man at a panipuri stall and the media houses claim to be that man is his father. He was just a random guy, his father doesn't sell panipuris for a living. 

(Yashasvi Jaiswal from his childood days / Image: Jwala Singh)

I have said reiterated this time and again, both me and Yashasvi that he never sold panipuris to earn his living. I have myself said it to many media outlets that he never sold panipuris once he began his cricket training with me in 2013. The entire story around this panipuri thing is blown out of proportion and is used time and again to give weightage to the stories done on him. It makes for a good headline but it has only 5% of truth in this. When he first came to Mumbai and was living in a tent, might have done it just for a few days. He did not have basic ammenities, no electricity, proper food, his tent used to be filled with water during the monsoon season. At times he did assist few hawkers as he was just a kid and in return earned small ampunts from them, but all of these things stopped once I started his cricket training and took him under my wings.  It has been 10 years that I know him and have started training him, but still, people write that he was selling panipuri before the U-19 World Cup 2020. These kinds of stories demean the contribution of people who have helped him to become the player that he is today. This has become a trend nowadays, whenever a player performs, there is always a struggling background that is given to him. Yes, he lived in a tent, and yes he faced many hardships, but it is not at all true that he was selling panipuri with his father in Mumbai and it helped him in his cricket training. When he initially came to Mumbai, his parents used to send him INR 1000 every month. His father owns a paint shop. Whatever cricket he is playing today is because of proper coaching, food, and accommodation, I did my best to provide him with everything. Nobody can become a cricketer without proper investment of time and money. I have given 9 valuable years of my life to him. 

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Yashasvi Jaiswal's record-breaking 2023

(Yashasvi Jaiswal celebrates his maiden Test hundred in a match against West Indies / Image: AP)

Yashasvi Jaiswal had been included in the Indian squad for the WTC 2023 Finals also, but he failed to find a spot in the team, but now with the new WTC 2023-25 cycle, Jaiswal had the chance to open for India and he straightaway scored 171 runs from 387 deliveries. The youngster had a fantastic IPL 2023 too and scored a staggering 625 runs from 14 matches with a strike rate of 163.61.