TATA IPL 2024: 'Yashasvi's Success Tied to Hunger, Work Ethic, Royals CEO
Yashasvi Jaiswal's extraordinary ascent, particularly on the international stage, has been nothing short of dazzling. According to Jake Lush McCrum, CEO of Rajasthan Royals, the primary factor driving the success of this talented young left-handed opener is his insatiable hunger, relentless drive, and unwavering work ethic.
Jaiswal scored 177 on his Test debut against the West Indies last year and even made his T20I debut in the same year. Earlier this year, Jaiswal scored 712 runs, including two double centuries, in India’s 4-1 Test series win over England at home. "The biggest reason for his success is his hunger, his drive, his work ethic. He hits more balls than any player. He trains harder than any player, and that's the sort of instinct that he's got, which has been so amazing to watch".
"The first ball he faced, he stepped across and scooped the fast bowler bowling 135. That sort of fearlessness, that rawness, that drive was incredibly impressive and so let’s just say we are not surprised with where Yashasvi has gotten to", said McCrum. He also highlighted the efforts behind the scenes to help Jaiswal become a more grounded individual off the field. "He had to undergo a cultural transformation because when you're a young kid who's been on the maidans, you have to only focus on yourself, and so he came from that setting to a team environment".
"We took him (Jaiswal) to the UK. We got him to spend time with business leaders within our UK tech entrepreneurial ecosystem. We took him to different academies. We gave him exposure just by going on a boat in Cornwall with some locals and having some Cornish pasties. Small things like that just opened his eyes to the broader world and made him see the bigger picture and how big the ecosystem supporting him is and how much he's giving back to it as well. And so, you see that maturity building."
McCrum further explained RR's partnership with Red Bull in scouting and talent identification, which helps them during auction preparation. “We started doing some of these talent hunts, working with Red Bull Campus cricket. There's an incredible supply of talent (in India), but particularly bowlers who can go on incredible growth curves, where if you've got that raw pace, they can be refined and developed over a couple of years to be at an IPL level".
"We've got scouting going on right now across the country to find the next best fast bowlers. We've had multiple in our net bowler group from the speedster ecosystem, who've been working with us as well. We hired a guy, Michael Italiano, who had been working with Red Bull in F1. He could bring all those learnings to the Royals because he understands how the Athlete Performance Center of Red Bull works. Because he has seen all those elements being implemented in F1, he can bring the best to IPL", he concluded.
