Indian cricket stars are created by coaches who give it their all to make their wards highly successful. Sachin Tendulkar had the great Ramakant Achrekar, Rohit Sharma had Dinesh Lad, Virat Kohli had Rajkumar Sharma. Just like the aforementioned names, Jwala Singh has become part of cricketing folklore for his association with Yashasvi Jaiswal.
In an exclusive interview, sports.info connected with Jwala Singh after Yashasvi Jaiswal’s epic knock of 161 in Perth. Once an aspiring cricketer who had come to Mumbai, with huge dreams in his eyes, Singh had to endure a lot of hardships which saw huge challenges and along with a lot of personal heartbreaks.
“When I was young I started following cricket during the 1992 World Cup. This is when I got attracted to the game and began playing. My father wanted me to crack IAS exams as I was a brilliant student. But then I was very passionate towards the game. That same year I decided to move from Gorakhpur to Mumbai to pursue my dreams.”
From early rejections and fight for survivals to becoming India’s best young coach
Likely any young cricket aspirant, Jwala Singh had left his home to make his dreams a reality. The journey from Gorakhpur to Mumbai wasn’t easy as he had to convince his parents to let him pursue his dreams of becoming a player. Jwala Singh himself was a fast bowler but due to multiple muscle injuries his career was cut short.
During his exclusive chat with Sports.info, Singh recounted the days of hard yards and said, “I wanted to meet Achrekar Sir, because in those days, Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli were huge names. After this I spoke to my father and told him about my dreams of going to Mumbai, but he didn’t take it seriously. This is when I wrote a letter to my father post which he agreed to let me go.”
On reaching Mumbai, the first of many heartbreak awaited the young cricketing aspirant. Ramakant Achrekar took Jwala Singh to Shardashram School but he was denied admission. Seeing his dreams starting to slip, the youngster asked the noted coach to give him a chance. This when Achrekar made him play against players older to him and was impressed with his skills and asked the youngster's father to leave him in Mumbai.
Getting emotional, Mr. Singh recounted further, “My father left and I started to play with Shardashram school and was very good player at that level. But I also realized that my family will find it tough to keep supporting my dreams. In those days, my father used to earn 6000 Rupees and I had two more brothers who were also studying. This is when I started to over practice.”
Sensing that his father couldn’t support him anymore, the youngster had to find ways to find sponsorship. “I used to take my paper cuttings that had appeared in Jansatta which carried a section called ‘Success stories’. I used this clipping to approach people for sponsorships and used to tell them ‘Finance me for the time being and I will surely do you proud and repay it’."
Help came with a sponsor and gradually even that stopped. This is when the real struggle began. Jwala Singh also had to contend with injuries happened as he also saw the money running dry due to which he couldn’t get treated. Post this the youngster started to earn money with coaching and also got himself treated. Using this money, Singh treated himself and soon became fit but no team was ready to take him.
“It was tough when I didn’t have money I used to live in railway stations, footpaths, also in a diary shop before finally staying in a gym for four years which was infested with mosquitoes. There was no basic facilities like toilet or water. In-fact I had to use the public restroom for six whole years. everyone used to laugh at me and make fun of me of my dreams but never shared it everyone,” said Jwala Singh.
Finally Mr. Singh recounted a incident close to heart and said, “Whenever I used to roam the streets in Mumbai, I used to gaze at the tall buildings. I used to tell myself ‘I am going to own a flat here one day’. whenever I used to see India’s matches I used to tell myself I will soon make someone play for India. There are so many stories like this.”
“Those 6-8 years were tough, despite all the setbacks I managed to finish my MBA and also started my own company. I used to go to my friends house for food but luckily I found support from Wasim Jaffer and Lal Bharwani who helped me get out of the tough phase. Those two stood by me like a rock when I needed them the most. God is great, whatever struggles I went through, I wish no one goes through the same. I want people to know my story because Yeh story aisi hai jo ek failure story, Yashasvi ki success story hai, but success ke piche ek failure story hai,” said an emotional Jwala Singh during his exclusive chat with Sports.info
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