My backstory always gives me confidence to tackle any situation: Yashasvi Jaiswal
Brought up in penury, the sensational Yashasvi Jaiswal says he now uses the experience gained from those difficult days as ammunition to conquer the battles on and off the field.
Jaiswal stamped his class with a masterful hundred in the first Test against Australia, and is poised to take over the mantle of being India's batting mainstay from the great Virat Kohli, who also made a century after a long time.
Having moved to Mumbai from Uttar Pradesh's Bhadohi at age 11 to train at Azad Maidan, Jaiswal lived in tents with the groundsmen and sold paani puri at night to earn money for food.
"It's something (his backstory) that always gives me confidence that I can come out of any situation. I always fight, I always look to fight, I want to be in the battle, I want to enjoy the battle and I want to win the battle," Jaiswal said during a chat with Australian television broadcaster Mark Howard.
The 22-year-old opener added, "So this is what it gives me and I am really blessed that I have this life, that can give me a lot of confidence, learnings about myself, how I can believe in me, and how I can go through with different emotions, different situation in my life."
"So I think it's just incredible and I really want to thank god for where I am and what I am doing, and I am doing what I love, so I am just happy at the moment. I want to enjoy this with every ball."
His journey to fame is a fascinating tale of a strong-willed man making his own destiny. His swashbuckling hundred more than made for the first-innings duck at Perth, where the five-match Test series began from November 22.
Asked about his unusual celebration after getting to the three-figure mark, Jaiswal said, "Yes, it was (an unusual) way to bring up the hundred. In my mind, I was like, I will do this or that, and then suddenly, something happened, and I was like, oh my god, what should I do."
"So, I was like, okay, I will just celebrate, and I will enjoy this moment. I was blessed, I was grateful, I enjoyed it, this feeling will stay with me for a long time."
"I give kisses to all my loved ones, all my fans who have supported me. I just wanted to give them my love with the kisses."
He spoke to his family after the fine achievement.
"I just called my family on whatsapp, getting everyone along and celebrate with them. My brother always talks to me about cricket."
India won the first Test by a huge margin of 297 runs and the second match will be played in Adelaide from December 6.
