Yashasvi Jaiswal Biography 2026: 7 Test Centuries, a 214* with 12 Sixes & the Azad Maidan Story No One Talks About

Last updated: 25 August 2026

Somewhere in a yard in Bhadohi, a man strung up a bulb over a strip of packed earth. The shop was closed. It was dark outside. A boy of about ten was batting alone under the light.

There was no academy in that yard. No pitch fee, no video analysis, no plan beyond the next over. What there was: a hardware shop as the family’s income, and a father who decided that was enough.

That bulb, and the patch of ground beneath it, eventually produced seven Test centuries, a share of the fastest fifty in IPL history, and one of the strangest 2026s in Indian cricket. This is the full story of Yashasvi Jaiswal — verified, current, and told the way things actually happened.

Quick Info

The Yard, the Bulb, and the Pani Puri

Bhadohi is a town in eastern Uttar Pradesh, the state covered in depth in our Uttar Pradesh guide. It isn’t a cricket town — not anywhere near the weight of Lucknow or Kanpur. Tell the people there in 2010 that a hardware shop would one day supply India’s opening batter, and you’d get a polite smile.

Bhupendra Kumar Jaiswal ran that shop. His wife Kanchan ran the home. Together they raised four children, and the youngest — born 28 December 2001 — hit with a kind of aggression the locals had to get used to.

The family’s cricket budget fit inside one evening. When the daylight ran out, the father made a pitch in the yard and hung a bulb above it. The son could bat after dark. That was the entire system.

At 12, the boy left for Mumbai to stay with an uncle. Money ran out faster than the plan assumed. So he slept in tents near Azad Maidan — the old public ground in south Mumbai where cricket has been played for over a century — and sold pani puri between practice sessions.

(Yes, the future Test centurion. Street food. It isn’t a metaphor; it’s the record.)

The break came two years later, in 2015. Jwala Singh, a local coach, watched a 14-year-old bat with senior bowlers at Azad Maidan. The strokes didn’t fit the age. Singh brought the boy into his home and started coaching him properly, and the family in Uttar Pradesh — trusting Singh completely — handed over the next chapter of their lives.

Around the same time, the boy made 319 runs in a school cricket match. The Limca Book of Records made a note of it. The hardware shop, as it turned out, had been doing its own quiet scouting all along.

The U-19 World Cup That Made Everyone Look Twice

Domestically, the arrival was sudden. In one Vijay Hazare Trophy season for Mumbai, the scores came in a flurry: 113, 122 and 203 — plus a 60 not out. His run of form ended only when rain knocked Mumbai out of the tournament — an unkind exit for the batting, at least.

Then came 2018. The ICC U-19 World Cup in South Africa. A 16-year-old Yashasvi was India’s main run-scorer, and by the final he had been named Player of the Tournament. India lost the final to New Zealand, but the trophy wasn’t really the story. The story was what every selector in every cricket office noticed: this left-hander did not flinch.

The IPL 2020 auction settled the question. Rajasthan Royals paid ₹2.4 crore for an 18-year-old with a 203 in his Vijay Hazare record book.

They never let him go.

Seven Seasons, One Franchise

Here’s something rare in the IPL: one player, one shirt, seven straight seasons. Jaiswal has played for Rajasthan Royals from 2020 to 2026, retained every single year. The latest retention, ahead of both 2025 and 2026, was ₹18 crore.

The early years were a lesson in patience.

2023 is the row every stat page points to. Six hundred and twenty-five runs in 14 matches — fifth in the league’s run chart, third among Indian batters behind Shubman Gill (890) and Virat Kohli (639), and the best haul by any Rajasthan Royals player that season. And on 11 May, he hit the fastest fifty in IPL history — off 13 balls against Kolkata Knight Riders. A record that still holds, though Urvil Patel matched it ball for ball in IPL 2026.

The 124 against Mumbai Indians did triple duty. It made him the youngest centurion in Rajasthan Royals history (21 years, 123 days). It equalled the franchise record for the highest individual score. And because he was still uncapped for India at the time, it became the highest IPL score ever by an uncapped player.

One innings. Three records.

He built an opening partnership with Jos Buttler in those years — a pair that could post anything in ten overs. By 2025, 559 runs made him RR’s top run-getter for the season. IPL 2026 added 427 in 16 matches at a strike rate above 150, and the career column now sits at 2,593 runs in 83 matches — two centuries, 18 fifties, 110 sixes.

I’ve read that 2023 scorecard more than once. The 124 is the one that doesn’t leave your head.

A Hundred in the First Innings

The Test selectors waited a year longer than the IPL crowd expected. Then, on 12 July 2023 at Roseau, Dominica, they finally let a 21-year-old open the innings.

First innings: 171, off 387 balls — 16 fours, a six, and more than eight hours at the crease. Rohit Sharma added 103 off the other end, India declared at 421/5, and the West Indies were bowled out for 150 and 130. India won by an innings and 141 runs, and the debutant took the Player of the Match award.

Test debut centuries do happen, but not often enough to feel comfortable. This one came on tour, in the West Indies, in the very first innings of his career. The rest of that summer was a blur — a full Test series, more runs, a growing list of people who wanted him in the white-ball squads too.

A few weeks later, on 8 August 2023 in Providence, Barbados, he made his T20I debut — on the same tour, 27 days after the Test cap. The order was unusual; most modern openers get the short-format cap first.

By October 2023 he had a maiden T20I century against Nepal in his record book. And that’s where the red-ball era truly started.

The Series That Made Him a Double-Century Man

England came to India in February 2024, and Yashasvi did the thing most 22-year-olds would think about for a few days and then stop.

209 at Visakhapatnam, on 2 February. Then, on 15 February, 214* at Rajkot.

Two double centuries in one series — only the third Indian, after Vinod Kambli and Virat Kohli, to score double tons in consecutive Tests against England. The second innings carried 12 sixes, the joint record for the most sixes in a Test innings, a mark first set 18 years earlier by Aakash Chohhan in Lahore:

Same six-count, different eras. The gap between those innings is 96 runs and a completely different kind of game.

The Border-Gavaskar series of 2024-25 was the real test. Across four Tests in Australia he finished as India’s leading run-scorer, including a 161 at Perth — the kind of innings that wins over a crowd before it wins the argument.

Then 2025 added two more tons: 101 at Headingley and 118 at The Oval, both in England during the Anderson–Tendulkar Trophy (India dropped the Leeds Test, which is a useful reminder that a century doesn’t always save a match), plus 175 at home against the West Indies in Delhi in October.

The tally, as of August 2026: 30 Tests, 2,567 runs at 47.53, with 7 centuries and 13 fifties. For a 24-year-old.

The Format He’s Still Earning

The white-ball numbers need honest framing.

In T20Is: 23 matches, 723 runs, a strike rate of 164.31, one century. He was named in India’s 2024 T20 World Cup squad — the one that went on to win the title — and played zero matches. The openers were already settled. Nobody called it unfair. It was simply how the doors worked.

The ODI cap took even longer. 6 February 2025, Nagpur, against England: 15 off 22. The debut came in the first ODI of a three-match warm-up series against England, ahead of the Champions Trophy his team went on to win in Dubai that March. Then he waited nearly ten months for the next one-day cap.

That gap matters more than it looks. When he finally came back into the ODI picture, in the South Africa series of December 2025 (covering for the injured captain Shubman Gill), the first big score was already waiting.

6 December 2025, Visakhapatnam. 116* off 121 balls. India chased down 271 with ten overs to spare, and he took the Player of the Match award. Two records came along quietly: he became the sixth Indian to score a century in all three international formats, and the sixth Indian to hit an ODI century at that ground — the same Visakhapatnam deck where MS Dhoni made the first Indian ODI hundred at the venue (148 against Pakistan, back in 2005). Our MS Dhoni biography has that full story, and the 20-year gap between the two innings is a lovely piece of cricket theatre.

Head coach Gautam Gambhir’s line after the match has stuck with me: the sky is the limit the moment Jaiswal figures out his ODI tempo (via ESPNcricinfo).

He has since added a second ODI century — an unbeaten 110 off just 86 balls at Chepauk against Afghanistan on 20 June 2026, at a strike rate of 127.91. Six ODIs now, 285 runs, two centuries, an average of 71.25. The sample is tiny. The average is frightening.

The Name That Wasn’t on the List

22 December 2025. India announced its squad for the T20 World Cup (co-hosted with Sri Lanka, February to March 2026). Yashasvi Jaiswal was not in it.

The context made it sting. The top order was in flux, and a lot of fans expected the opening slot to be his. Instead, with Sanju Samson set as the first-choice wicketkeeper-batter, the selectors went with Ishan Kishan in that mix. Aakash Chopra questioned the selection publicly, on his YouTube channel, in comments covered by India Today: “It seemed like Yash would 100 percent be part of the team… he will have to wait.”

Jaiswal made no scene. That, honestly, was the telling part.

Then, without him, India did what no team in history had done: defended the T20 World Cup title on home soil. The final, 8 March 2026 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad: 255/5 — the highest total ever in a T20 World Cup final — powered by Samson’s 89 and quick half-centuries from Ishan Kishan and Abhishek Sharma, then Bumrah’s 4/15 as New Zealand collapsed for 159 in 19 overs. A 96-run win. A third title. Nearly 87,000 fans in blue. Samson took the Player of the Tournament award after 321 runs at a strike rate near 200.

The trophy was a celebration for the country. It was also a reminder for one man on the outside. The next cycle’s opening slot belongs to whoever plays — and at 24, with a red-ball record like his, the argument already involves him.

Where He Stands Right Now

India is in Sri Lanka. The first Test at Galle (15–19 August) was a quiet week for him — 32 and a duck. The second Test in Colombo is under way, with India having declared at 503/9 to hand Sri Lanka a lead of around 445 runs to chase.

Zoom out, and the August 2026 picture looks like this:

• 30 Tests, 2,567 runs, average 47.53
• 6 ODIs, 285 runs, average 71.25
• 23 T20Is, 723 runs, strike rate 164.31
• 83 IPL matches, 2,593 runs

He turns 25 on 28 December. The debate in Indian cricket has quietly changed. A year ago it was “can he keep the Test form going.” Now it’s a scheduling question — how much white-ball time does he actually get? The answers, increasingly, are starting with him.

Career Statistics

As of 25 August 2026 — Test figures after the first Test in Galle; IPL 2026 season concluded.

International

IPL — Rajasthan Royals, season by season

10 Things You Might Not Know

1. His Vijay Hazare season of 113, 122 and 203 ended because of rain — Mumbai were washed out of the tournament, and his best domestic form died with it.
2. He’s the youngest of four children, and his elder brother Tejasvi is also a cricketer.
3. His T20I cap came 27 days after his Test cap — both on the same West Indies tour in 2023. An unusual order for a modern opener.
4. His ODI debut score was 15 off 22 — and he then waited nearly ten months for the next one-day cap.
5. He was in the 2024 T20 World Cup squad and played zero matches. No media storm. He just waited. (That squad went on to win the title.)
6. The 124 against Mumbai Indians was made while he was still uncapped — it remains the highest IPL score by an uncapped player.
7. His maiden ODI century (116*) came at the same Vizag ground where Dhoni hit 148 in 2005 — 20 years apart, same deck.
8. The 214* with 12 sixes is a joint record for the most sixes in a Test innings, shared with Aakash Chohhan’s 118 of 2006.
9. His IPL debut in 2020 was nearly invisible — 3 matches, 40 runs, a high score of 34. Nobody knew who he was.
10. “Yashasvi” roughly means famous or glorious. By 2026 standards, that’s a description, not a wish.

Did You Know

• The 13-ball fifty from IPL 2023 is still the fastest in the tournament’s history. Urvil Patel matched it in IPL 2026 — no one has gone faster.
• He made his Test debut barely 12 years after Virat Kohli — Kohli in November 2011, Jaiswal in July 2023.
• He was Player of the Tournament at the 2018 U-19 World Cup — in a final India lost to New Zealand.
• Seven straight IPL seasons, one franchise. Very few openers in the league have that kind of continuity.

What We Can Learn

1. The environment can be built. The yard, the bulb, the packed-earth pitch. World-class technique didn’t need a world-class facility — it needed a father who stringed up a light and a son who stayed under it.
2. One mentor can redirect a life. Jwala Singh watched a 14-year-old at Azad Maidan in 2015 and made a decision. Azad Maidan has turned out many players; this is the one who became a Test centurion.
3. Patience is a stat too. Nearly ten months between ODI caps could have derailed a career. Instead it produced a 71.25 ODI average. The gap wasn’t wasted — it was just unrecorded.
4. Continuity is its own record. Seven seasons, the same shirt, 2,593 runs. In a league built on auction drama, that kind of loyalty is almost unheard of — and it shows in the numbers.
5. The quietest answer wins. Dropped from the T20 World Cup squad in December 2025. No statement, no drama. Then an unbeaten 110 at Chepauk in June 2026. Scorecards, it turns out, are the best press releases.

FAQs

How old is Yashasvi Jaiswal?

He was born on 28 December 2001. He’s 24 and will turn 25 on 28 December 2026.

Where was Yashasvi Jaiswal born?

Suriyawan, a small town in Bhadohi district, Uttar Pradesh.

Which IPL team does he play for?

Rajasthan Royals, since 2020 — seven consecutive seasons. He’s been retained every year, most recently for ₹18 crore.

How many Test centuries has he scored?

Seven: 171 on debut (West Indies, 2023), 209 and 214* (England, 2024), 161 (Australia, 2024), 101 and 118 (England, 2025), and 175 (West Indies, 2025).

Why wasn’t he in the 2026 T20 World Cup squad?

India built the squad around Sanju Samson as the first-choice wicketkeeper-opener and picked Ishan Kishan in that mix. The omission was widely criticised, most publicly by Aakash Chopra. India won the title in his absence.

What is his highest score in each format?

Test: 214* (England, Rajkot, 2024). ODI: 116* (South Africa, Visakhapatnam, 2025). T20I: 100 (Nepal, 2023). IPL: 124 (Mumbai Indians, 2023).

The Lights in the Yard

A year ago, the honest question about this player was whether the Test form would hold. That question is answered. The 2,500-plus runs and seven centuries aren’t a season’s fluke; they’re a foundation.

The debate now is smaller, and more human: a 24-year-old who was left out of the 2026 World Cup squad, who has two ODI centuries in six matches, and who is waiting for a consistent white-ball role. Whether the selectors keep the door open wide enough is a decision India will regret or applaud within a couple of cycles.

The bulb over that yard in Bhadohi did its job a long time ago. Everything since has been batted out, one innings at a time — and if the last 18 months are anything to go by, the innings are still getting bigger.

Related Articles

• MS Dhoni Biography 2026: 3 ICC Trophies, 5 IPL Titles — the 148 at Vizag in 2005, and the 20-year gap to Jaiswal’s 116*
• Sachin Tendulkar Biography 2026: Inspiring Ultimate Records — the opener every Indian opener is measured against
• Smriti Mandhana Inspiring Biography 2026: 17 Record-Breaking Centuries — the left-handed opener whose century count keeps growing
• Neeraj Chopra Story: Inspiring Olympic Gold, 90-Metre Feat & Epic Comeback — another small-place-to-global-stage story
• Major Dhyan Chand Biography 2026: The Hockey Wizard Who Refused Hitler — the wizard, told properly
• Uttar Pradesh Complete State Guide 2026 — where the hardware shop story began

Sources (all linked and live as of 25 August 2026): ESPNcricinfo player profile · ESPNcricinfo match report — India vs South Africa, 3rd ODI, 6 December 2025 · Cricbuzz IPL 2023 run chart · Wikipedia — Yashasvi Jaiswal · India Today — 2026 T20 World Cup squad coverage · NDTV Sports — player statistics · News18 — Vizag ODI century coverage · Sportstar — India 2025 ODI schedule · Olympics.com — T20 World Cup 2026 final report. Figures verified as of 25 August 2026.