Important for me to play IPL but safety comes first, states Yashasvi Jaiswal

The Southpaw, who finished as the leading run-scorer (400 runs) at the colts' World Cup, is used to hardships. He has lived in a tent, did odd jobs and even sold pani puri for a living. However, the 21-day lockdown in India due to the coronavirus pandemic may not be as tough as the thought of not playing the Indian Premier League.

The city of dreams has already recorded five deaths so far due to the virus and hence it may take a long time for Jaiswal bought by Royals for ₹2.40 crore to hit the nets. Hailing from Mumbai, the teenager had a splendid ICC U-19 World Cup in South Africa and he had started preparing for his maiden IPL for Rajasthan Royals, but the Covid-19 outbreak stands right in front of his dreams.

“This is the situation now and I have to deal with it. IPL would be ideal for me but as of now, it is important to remain safe. I want to improve my game, think about the game in these times. I am very motivated. Cricket is my dream and I will keep pursuing it till the day I can. I have many goals. In life, you won’t get what you should get every time,” said Jaiswal, as quoted by Sportstar.

Star of India’s Under-19 World Cup 2020, Jaiswal was beginning to train for what would have been his maiden IPL stint before the COVID-19 pandemic pushed the entire country in lockdown. He was bought by Rajasthan Royals for Rs 2.4 crore and considered one of Indian cricket’s brightest prospects. All eyes were expected to be on Jaiswal before the IPL was hit by a roadblock. The closest that the left-hander could get to the cash-rich league was the Royals camp in Nagpur earlier this month. 

“It was a great feeling to be in the camp. The Royals family really gave me a warm welcome. It was great to meet Zubin Bharucha [the Head of Cricket at Royals]. I had good practice sessions. IPL is all about playing in different conditions and on different wickets. Zubin Sir told me a lot of things," he added.