“Had taken him to England when he was 14 or 15 years of age” – Dilip Vengsarkar on spotting Yashasvi Jaiswal’s talent at a young age

Former Indian chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar recalled taking Yashasvi Jaiswal to England when he was only 14 or 15 years old and being awestruck by the talent the young boy had. Jaiswal went on to represent India at the Under-19 World Cup and has also made an impressive start to his career at the top level.

The left-hander scored a match-winning knock of 209 runs in the first innings of the second Test match against England at Vizag to play a key role in the team’s series-leveling 106-run win.

Jaiswal, 22, has all the talent under his belt and has also worked hard to get to the top level.

“I had taken him to England when he was 14 or 15 years of age, and as we all know, he comes from a very humble background. In England, he scored in every match and we could see the hunger in him. I knew this kid would go places with the talent he possessed,” said Vengsarkar while talking to RevSportz.

“He then went on to play for India U-19 and scored plenty of runs in the World Cup, which supported his cause by getting picked by the IPL franchise, Rajasthan Royals. I am extremely happy about him and now he is the captain of Dadar Union as well, where I played for 25 years,” he added.

Meanwhile, Jaiswal also impressed in IPL 2023, scoring 625 runs in 14 matches at an average of 48.07 and a strike rate of more than 163 while playing for Rajasthan Royals.

Vengsarkar feels it is imperative for the selectors and team management to provide opportunities to young players like Rajat Patidar and Sarfaraz Khan when they are in prime form. While Patidar has made his ODI and Test debut, Khan is still waiting in the wings.

“There are a lot of good players all around. I think [Rajat] Patidar is good and I watched him play around four years ago. However, he did not get an opportunity back then. Sarfaraz [Khan] is good as well, but he also has not gotten the opportunity at the right time,” he elaborated.

“I think the timing has to be precise in these situations – provide opportunity to these youngsters when they are in great form. If you lose that time, then the player might lose his form, interest, or fitness,” Vengsarkar added.

The third Test match between India and England will be played at Rajkot from 15th February onwards.