Vijay Hazare Trophy | My motto is to perform well and take my team to victory, says Yashasvi Jaiswal

History was created on Thursday, October 17, when a certain 17-year-old Yashasvi Jaiswal smashed a double-century for Mumbai against Jharkhand in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy, thus becoming the youngest cricketer to do so in List A cricket. His journey from having to live at Azad Maidan to becoming an overnight sensation is a very inspiring one. And yet again, Mumbai just keeps on producing young batting prodigies with world-class abilities. This was his third century in five matches in this competition. The southpaw smashed 17 fours and 12 sixes. He was already in the reckoning to be a star after being the player of the tournament in the recently concluded Asia Cup, but this inning has made him an even bigger talking point in the Indian domestic circuit.

“I’m tired of speaking with people about myself since the past few days, I’ve been getting calls non-stop,” Jaiswal told Scroll.in

The true sign of a champion is the way he understands his weaknesses and tries to work on them rather than resting after a successful stint. Jaiswal exactly does the former thing.

"I’ve just been practising really hard. I try to identify areas where I can improve. It’s important for me to focus on becoming mentally stronger each day, try to read the game better and get a deeper understanding of it," he said.

The prodigy wanted to be a cricketer ever since he was small. There was not much cricket played in the village he used to belong to. Like many others, he too grew up watching Sachin Tendulkar play. Thus, he wanted to play for Mumbai because it is a great nurturing environment for world-class batsmen.

"There wasn’t much cricket played in my village. And I’d heard a lot about how Sachin sir and Wasim sir excelled in Mumbai. So I wanted to come here and do the same," said Jaiswal.

He also spoke about the difficulty he had financially due to which he had to live in a tent at the Azad Maidan. But looking back, he believes that those days made him a stronger person.

"Once I moved here, I used to live at Azad Maidan since I didn’t have a house in the city and didn’t really know anyone. The tent I lived in didn’t have electricity or a toilet. It would get flooded during monsoons. But I enjoyed that phase of my life, too. My focus was always on playing cricket and improving my game," he said.

Having had a fantastic start to his career, Yashasvi believes that his goal would be to improve comtinually so that he could contribute more to his team's victory which is his number one priority.

"My motto is to perform well at every given opportunity and take my team to victory. My performances don’t mean anything if my team loses.

I don’t have any set goal for myself. I’ll take each match as it comes and focus on the process. There’s no point in thinking about results. What has to happen, will happen. I never worry about getting selected. All that matters to me is my own performance and my team’s victory," he signed off.