From selling paani-puri to smashing century at ICC U19 World Cup: Here is Yashasvi Jaiswal's inspirational journey

Defending champions India defeated Pakistan to make it to the finals of the ICC Under 19 World Cup 2020 on Tuesday thanks to an unbeaten knock from Yashasvi Jaiswal.

The duo of Jaiswal and Divyansh Saxena displayed great maturity as they went onto record the fourth successive win against Pakistan in U-19 World Cups.

Yashasvi even notched up India's first ton in the tournament and even became the highest run-scorer of the tournament.

The 18-year-old had to do a lot of struggle at the start of his cricketing career where he had to sell paani puris for a living.

The youngster also became the youngest cricketer to score a List A double century last year.

His top-notch performances in domestic cricket and for India's junior teams also earned him a big move in the Indian Premier League (IPL) too.

During the IPL 2020 auction in Kolkata on December 19, 2019, Rajasthan Royals (RR) paid a hefty fee of Rs 2.40 crores to secure the services of India U19 star cricketer.

Coming from a very humble family, Yashasvi's father had also expressed his thoughts over his son's big-money move in the IPL and claimed that it's the hard work of his son which paid off in the end.

“His hard work is paying off. I hope that he will perform well in the IPL and would get a chance in the Indian side. I am extremely happy. It is not about money," Bhupendra Jaiswal said back in December last year.

India will face the winner between New Zealand and Bangladesh in the final clash.

Speaking at the post-match interview, Yashasvi said: "It is a dream come true for me. Really happy with what I did for my country, I can't express it in words. I'll never forget that I scored a hundred in the World Cup against Pakistan. It is just the start though, I have to work really hard in the future as well."

"We (Saxena and me) were talking amongst ourselves that we needed to stay on the wicket. They bowled well initially and we had to see it out. All of us, our support staff, physio, manager, they put in the effort and I want to thank all the Indians who prayed for us. We will try our best in the finals."