Not Rohit-Kohli-Pant, this Indian cricketer was featured in Australian newspapers, named “New King”

New Delhi : Shubman Gill is often called the ‘Prince of Indian Cricket’ due to his brilliant batting style, consistency and prolific run scoring. But this time in the Australian media, it is not Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant but opener Yashasvi Jaiswal who has been declared the ‘new king’.

Yashasvi Jaiswal’s journey in cricket is a story of perseverance and talent. From humble beginnings, he quickly became one of India’s most promising young batsmen who impressed fans and critics alike with his stellar performances in domestic cricket and the IPL. Born in Uttar Pradesh, Jaiswal moved to Mumbai at a young age with the dream of becoming a cricketer. His early life was full of difficulties; He lived in tents, sold street food and struggled to make ends meet while training. But his dedication and tenacity showed his brilliance and he made his Test debut with a brilliant innings of 171 runs against the West Indies at Roseau in July 2023.

Jaiswal showed his hunger for big innings by scoring 209 and 214 not out against England in Visakhapatnam and Rajkot respectively in February 2024. Last month in October, Jaiswal created history by becoming the first Indian batsman to score 1,000 Test runs in a calendar year before turning 23. This feat was achieved during the second Test against New Zealand at the MCA Stadium in Pune. Jaiswal became only the fifth batsman in history to achieve the feat, adding his name to some of the greatest batsmen of the game.

After 14 Tests, Jaiswal has scored 1407 runs at an average of 56.28. Now that Team India is touring Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Australian newspaper The Daily Telegraph has given details of Jaiswal’s trip. Not only this, on the front page of the newspaper there is a picture of Virat Kohli and the headline in Hindi which means ‘struggle for ages’ and on the back page there is a picture of Jaiswal and the headline in Punjabi which means ‘New King’.

A lot of @imVkohli in the Australian papers this morning as is the norm whenever India are in town but never expected to see Hindi and Punjabi appearing in the Adelaide Advertiser. Tells you about the magnitude of the #AusvInd series for Australia & cricket in this country pic.twitter.com/I5B2ogPvEJ

— Bharat Sundaresan (@beastieboy07) November 12, 2024

The report which describes Jaiswal as India’s next superstar states that the opening batsman is on track to replace Kohli. The report said, ‘Yashaswi Jaiswal is the most aggressive opening batsman to come from India after Virender Sehwag and the most exciting batsman in the country after Virat Kohli.’ But the report also raises questions about whether Jaiswal has the ability to succeed on his first tour of Australia.

The bulk of Jaiswal’s success so far has come in the dry conditions of the subcontinent and the Caribbean. In his only Test tour of South Africa, he averaged 12.50 and was out on bounce in three of his four innings. But Jaiswal has full confidence in his captain and opening partner Rohit Sharma.

Before the Test series against New Zealand, Rohit had said, ‘I am not surprised at how Yashasvi has adopted international cricket. He has real talent and the ability to play in all kinds of situations. Despite being very young she has shown the ability to handle herself well in various situations. He has all the ingredients needed to succeed at this level.

Emphasizing on Jaiswal’s bright future, Rohit said, ‘It is important how he handles himself in the next few years. He can do wonders for the team. Having played a lot of domestic and under-19 cricket where he has been successful, it is clear why he is playing for India now. In his short career he has already shown what he is capable of, and he has performed exceptionally well.’

The Test series in Australia will be very important for Jaiswal and success in Australia will determine whether he succeeds in becoming ‘The New King’ and whether he is capable of becoming ‘India’s next superstar’. The first Test of the series begins in Perth from November 22 and India needs to win 4 Tests in Australia to qualify directly for the World Test Championship final to be held at Lord’s in June 2025.