Yashasvi Jaiswal, on his Test match debut, made 171 runs against the West Indies. Recalling his interactions with Rohit Sharma before the game, Jaiswal revealed during practice sessions how he tried to hit Indian spinner Ravindra Jadeja out of the attack, and Rohit intervened by saying to play with ease.
“I remember Jaddu bhai was bowling and I stepped out and hit a six outside the stadium. Rohit bhai told me, ‘Jaisu khel neeche se, aaramse khel. Aise marega kya?’ (Jaiswal play with ease and on the ground. Will you hit like this?) Then I started playing normally. My mindset was to try to dominate and take chances according to the field set. If I can convert, I will try, and this is the chat we had. I tried to play my positive shots, and it was successful. I have the same mindset when I play for Mumbai as well,” he said on sports journalist Vimal Kumar’s YouTube Channel.
“Rohit was giving me a lot of confidence. He told me to play freely, play my shots, and get to a big score if I got set. He told me a lot of things. The moment I landed in the West Indies, and we were going to Dominica for our game, he told me that time itself that I was going to play. Almost 15 days before, he told me that I would not tell you a day before you would be playing. So he had told me 15 days before. He told me that we would prepare together and prepare well.”
Jaiswal also revealed his first interaction with Rohit before making his debut. “The first interaction I had was with Rohit Sharma. I was playing a Deodhar Trophy game and he was on a video call. I wanted to see how he was in real life. I was looking into the phone again and again. He asked who is this looking again and again told to give the phone. Then he spoke to me and asked me how I was. I had also scored a double hundred in the Vijay Hazare. A BCCI jersey was behind him. He showed me that and told me that I have to get there. I told him that I would work hard and then I got into the team three years after that,” he said.
