The BCCI selection committee on Friday (June 23) announced Team India’s squad for the upcoming two-match Test series against West Indies, starting July 12 in Dominica.
While most of the picks were on the expected lines, there was one notable inclusion in the squad that caught everyone’s attention.
Young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, who took the cricketing world by storm with his stunning exploits in the IPL 2023 season, earned his maiden Test call-up in the 16-member squad.
In an exclusive interview with PTI, Jaiswal shared his first reaction on receiving maiden Test call-up and also revealed that his father started crying after hearing the news of his selection.
"My father started crying (when he got to know). I have not yet met my mother; I am going to see her in sometime. I was out from the morning, had a practice session as well as some other work,” said Jaiswal.
Earlier this month, the southpaw travelled to UK with the national team for the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023 final against Australia as a reserved player.
“I am feeling good, I will try to do my best,” Jaiswal stated. "I am excited but at the same time I just want to go out and express myself.”
The stylish left-hander admitted that he was nervous until the time he got to see his name in the squad.
"I was a little nervous, till the time you do not get to know that your name is there in the team, there are butterflies. But it is a good feeling."
"My preparations have been going good and I got to interact a lot with the senior players. The conversation has been very simple – to focus on my work. I learned from them that in the end ‘it is all about you, how you take it going forward',” he said.
Yashasvi Jaiswal boasts a remarkable record in First-Class cricket, amassing 1845 runs from 15 matches at an average of 80.21 with nine centuries and two fifties.