Sachin Yadav did not come to javelin through childhood athletics training or through the direct influence of Neeraj Chopra, India’s biggest star in the discipline. Until the age of 19, his world was closer to tennis-ball cricket, his family’s fields in Khekada and classes aimed at securing a government job. Six years later, that same athlete is set to appear at the Rome Diamond League in June as one of the new reference points in Indian javelin, at a meeting where Chopra will be absent and the national spotlight will look for another name.
His path explains why his presence in Rome carries more than competitive value. Yadav comes from a fourth-place finish at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 2025, where he threw 86.27 metres, set a personal best and finished ahead of several leading names, including Chopra himself. But his story began long before that international leap: it started in a Sunday cricket match, when a local coach saw in a tall, strong young man with arm speed something he had not yet imagined himself: a future javelin thrower.
A cricketer chasing a government job
Yadav was born into a farming family in Khekada, in the Baghpat district of Uttar Pradesh. In interviews in India, he has said that he grew up helping with wheat and fodder crops, far from a professional sporting environment and without major athletics references around him. Cricket was his regular sport, but not a career. “Cricket was just for timepass on Sundays. I had no ambition to play at a higher level,” he told ‘The Indian Express’.
The turning point came through Sandeep Yadav, a local coach and neighbour who saw him playing tennis-ball cricket. Sachin was a fast bowler, with a large frame, arm speed and physical qualities that could transfer to the javelin. At first, however, he was not convinced. “I had no link to javelin, I had not even heard of Neeraj bhai saab,” he recalled. At home, the decision was not simple either: cricket offered money, visibility and the appeal of the Indian Premier League -IPL-, while javelin looked like a much more uncertain path. His father, Naresh Yadav, eventually supported the decision and even borrowed money to buy him a pair of specialist spikes.
A bamboo javelin and video coaching
The first trial was almost handmade. Sachin swapped the tennis ball for a bamboo javelin on the ground of a private school in Khekada, where Sandeep trained a small group of hopefuls. He threw 57 metres in that first attempt and his coach understood that there was raw material. For two years, the work was done in that local setting; when Sandeep, who worked with the Uttar Pradesh police, was on duty, corrections came through videos.
The next door was opened by Naval Singh, coach of Paralympic champion Sumit Antil, who received him at the JLN Stadium in Delhi. There, a more technical process began to shape a thrower still under construction. Naval Singh described him as an athlete who was “still raw”, with details to correct but also clear qualities: “I don’t want to compare him with anyone, but his special qualities are his strength, flexibility and arm speed.” For Sachin, the transition from cricket was not as automatic as it might seem either: “People generally think a fast bowler can easily shift to javelin but that is not really true. I wasn’t good at cricket, hopefully I can do something in javelin.”
The other route in Indian javelin
Neeraj Chopra’s shadow is inevitable for any Indian javelin thrower, but Sachin’s story has a different nuance. “He’s my favourite javelin thrower now but I didn’t even know who Neeraj bhai was when I started javelin throw. A lot of javelin throwers in India started because of Neeraj bhai but I came my own way,” he told ‘Sportstar’.
His progression has been rapid. In 2024, he won the Indian Grand Prix 3 with 82.69 metres, took gold at the All India Police Athletics Championships with 84.21 metres and broke a three-decade-old meet record while representing the Uttar Pradesh Police. In 2025, he won the National Games in Dehradun with 84.39 metres, claimed silver at the Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi with 85.16 metres in his first international competition and raised his personal best to 86.27 metres at the World Championships in Tokyo. There, before the final, his coach reminded him not to be overawed by the occasion. “I reminded him that he has the power as well as the technique to produce a big throw,” said Naval Singh, convinced that Yadav can move closer to the 90-metre barrier.
In Rome, Chopra’s absence will give Yadav a different kind of exposure, but his story no longer depends on filling anyone’s place. He arrives as the son of a farming family who traded Sunday cricket for a bamboo javelin, trained by video when his coach was not nearby and built a late-starting career until he entered the international conversation. The Diamond League will be another test, but also a confirmation: Sachin Yadav is no longer just a promise behind Chopra, but a name of his own in Indian javelin.
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