New Delhi, April 2: In a surprising development, India’s left-handed opener Yashasvi Jaiswal has switched from Mumbai to Goa for the 2025/26 domestic cricket season, confirmed Vipul Phadke, the Goa Cricket Association (GCA) President.

Jaiswal, who is currently playing for Rajasthan Royals (RR) in 2025 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and has amassed 34 runs in three games so far, has even received a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA). Previously, Siddhesh Lad and Arjun Tendulkar turned out for Goa in domestic cricket.

“Actually, that process is still going on, but he has obtained an NOC from Mumbai Cricket Association. I think our secretary (Shamba Naik Dessai) was in touch with him. He got the things done. For his personal reasons, Jaiswal has left Mumbai.

“I do not know the nature of it and I do not also want to comment, as well as have absolutely no ideas, on why he left Mumbai. But he has taken the NOC and expressed his interest to play for Goa.

“It is a good opportunity for Goa to have him and to be a part of our team. Our players will also have that kind of exposure and the learnings that they can get from an Indian team level kind of a player,” said Phadke to IANS on Wednesday.

IANS also reached out to Jwala Singh, Jaiswal’s childhood coach and Ajinkya Naik, the MCA President, but the calls went unanswered. Since his senior Mumbai debut in 2019, apart from playing in U16, U19 and U23 age-group games, Jaiswal played 36 first-class matches, amassing 3712 runs at an astonishing average of 60.85. In 2021/22 Ranji Trophy season, Jaiswal made three successive hundreds in Mumbai's march to the final.

He also made 1526 runs across 33 List A games at an average of 52.62, including a double hundred. From there, Jaiswal made his international debut in 2023 and hit 171 on his Test debut against the West Indies. Now at 23, Jaiswal has also played T20Is and an ODI for India, while making 393 runs in the 2024/25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Australia.

Interestingly, Phadke stated Jaiswal was the one who initiated the move for a switch to Goa from Mumbai. “Actually, he was the one who had approached, I think so. He was the one who had approached BCCI Joint Secretary Rohan Gauns Dessai, who is also from Goa. Plus, he was the secretary before here in Goa. I think it was very good and from there, the Goa secretary and me became a part of this process. So, yes, it’s a good opportunity for us to have Jaiswal in the Goa team,” he added.

With Jaiswal moving to Goa, a side which earned a promotion to the Ranji Trophy Elite stage after clinching the Plate Division title earlier this year, the left-handed opener is now seen as a big candidate to lead the side in domestic cricket, depending on when he is not on international duty.

It’s something which would have never happened in the star-studded Mumbai team, who are led by Ajinkya Rahane and Shreyas Iyer in red-ball and white-ball games respectively. Phadke, though, feels its something the senior Goa men’s selection committee will decide in due course of time.

“That the selection committee will finalize, as all of it rests with them. So, they will finalize that. You want the captain who can handle the entire team and Jaiswal has the capacity to handle that. So, the selection committee will take a positive approach to it, because it is not in my hands and I cannot comment more on that,” he concluded. (IANS)

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