BHOPAL: In 2020, a young boy asked for a premium willow cricket bat. The Covid lockdown had shuttered his family's civil construction business in Chambal, making such a luxury unaffordable. Yet his father took a loan and bought the bat for Rs 65,000.
It was an expensive gamble. But that "KL Rahul" series bat is now repaying the loan, not in rupees but in runs and resolve. The boy from the badlands of Chambal, once notorious for dacoits, is the new India Under-19 cricket captain.
Yashbardhan Singh Chauhan, a promising uncapped cricketer and the youngest in his family (he turns 18 in November), will lead India against Sri Lanka in the upcoming series.
It was early 2020 when Yashbardhan, already showing promise as a batsman, asked for the bat. His innocent request initially worried the family elders. Their business contracts had just been cancelled, making every penny count.
His father, Anami Singh Chauhan, described the purchase as "our biggest bet on his dream." The new bat yielded bountiful returns: Yash amassed 1,300 runs with it in the Under-13 Kanmadikar Trophy in 2021, drawing the attention of selectors and coaches. Every boundary off that bat felt like a small repayment for the anxious nights preceding the purchase, the family said.
"I told Yashbardhan to always keep that KL Rahul series bat with him. That bat effectively set him on his cricketing journey," said an elated Chauhan, now in the flour mill business in Gwalior.
The bat became talismanic. Yash carried it like an accessory, from practice to matches, from small grounds to tournament halls, a symbol of the family's sacrifice and hope. While teammates occasionally borrowed his gloves or pads, the willow was never loaned.
When a senior Ranji player once asked to use it, Yashbardhan refused. Not out of arrogance, the family insisted, but out of reverence for what the bat represented: a father's faith in his son during a crisis.
"This bat carries my deepest emotions. I can never share this willow with anyone," Yashbardhan told TOI.
Now, national duty calls as the Board of Control for Cricket in India has appointed him U-19 captain. Selectors cited his consistent run-scoring, temperament under pressure, and quiet respect within the dressing room as reasons for giving him the leadership role.
