The bespectacled, geeky-looking Jay Bista finds himself a unique trivia fact - becoming only the first player of Nepalese origin to have played for Mumbai. An opening right-handed batsman, who doubles up ably as a part-time off-spinner, Bista started off his cricket at Mumbai's PJ Hindu Gymkhana. But on the insistence of his father - also a cricketer to have played for Mumbai University - he shifted schools to join the cricket-cultured Shardashram Vidyamandir School.
He went through the rigours of Mumbai cricket, representing them at almost every age group level, right from the under-14s to the under-23s. His big moment of reckoning came in the under-19 Cooch Behar Trophy of 2014-15, where he set up the title win with centuries in both the quarters and the semis. A First Class debut soon followed and since then, he's been in and around the Mumbai senior outfit.
With Prithvi Shaw likely to be away on national duty, Bista remains the person to whom Mumbai will turn, and turn for long.
Written by - Vineet Anantharaman
