From Selling Pani Puri To Scoring Maiden IPL Hundred, Yashasvi Jaiswal Has Come A Long Way

He once lived in tents and sold street food to pursue his cricketing dream. Now, sizzling talent Yashasvi Jaiswal is the toast of the Indian Premier League. On Sunday the Indian 21-year-old smashed 124 off 62 balls for Rajasthan Royals in front of a huge crowd in Mumbai, the city he moved to as a child from a poor family in Uttar Pradesh. "What a story, what a special talent. Yashasvi Jaiswal is a superstar in the making," former Australia batsman and ex-IPL coach Tom Moody tweeted.

"He has got real talent. The kind of domestic season he has had, he has taken that form into IPL. Good for him, good for Indian cricket and good for RR as well," India's all-format captain Rohit Sharma said.

The left-hander's maiden IPL century was not only the highest score of the current season -- it also put him on top in the league's 2023 batting rankings.

With a strike rate of 159.70, he has now racked up 428 runs, ahead of South Africa's on-fire Faf du Plessis (422 - Royal Challengers Bangalore) and New Zealand opener Devon Conway (414 - Chennai Super Kings).

- Pani puri to premier league -

Jaiswal moved to Mumbai -- without his parents -- when he was just 11.

"I used to sleep in a dairy and then stayed at my uncle's place but it wasn't big enough and he asked me to find a different place," Jaiswal told AFP in an interview in 2020.

"I then started to stay in a tent near Azad Maidan (a Mumbai sports ground) and would play cricket there during the day.

"I sold pani puri at night, to help earn some money for food," he said, referring to a popular street snack.

Jo Yashasvi Jaiswal Mumbai ko pani puri khilaya karta tha wahi aaj Mumbai ke crowd ke saamne Munbai Indians ko paani pila pila ke maar raha hai. #MIvsRR pic.twitter.com/njPWdZG32T