From a small village to Team India: Inspiring journey of Mukesh Kumar

June 25, 2023

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From a small village to Team India: Inspiring journey of Mukesh Kumar

There are many beautiful and heart-wrenching stories in Indian cricket where we have seen a lot of cricketers struggle a lot in their childhood and teenage years but do wonders for the team just because of their dedication and hard work. Mukesh Kumar, who has been selected in the Indian squad for the test match and the ODI series against the West Indies next month, has a similar kind of story and a very inspiring one.

Also Read: Journey of Yashasvi Jaiswal from watching IPL to India call-up

Born in a small and underdeveloped village in Bihar, Mukesh Kumar fell in love with the cricket ball as soon as he saw it for the first time. Gradually, he started to play with his friends in his village, but due to a lack of opportunities there, he was facing a hard time growing his career. He had to then leave his town as he moved to Bengal for better cricket opportunities.

The young bowler was discovered by Ranadeb Bose, a former Bengal pacer and bowling coach, at one of the trials that the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) was arranging as part of a “Vision 2020 programme” back in 2014. VVS Laxman, Waqar Younis, and Muttiah Muralitharan presided over the trials. He was chosen right away for the Bengal team, and due to his continued success, he was later called up to play for India’s A team against New Zealand.

His five-wicket haul during the New Zealand series increased management confidence, which resulted in his first call-up to India for the ODI series against South Africa. In the red-ball format, Kumar has 149 wickets at an average of 21.55 and six five-wicket hauls.

He also went to England to serve as a reserve for the World Test Championship, and he is currently a member of the West Indies tour’s test squad. Mukesh also played for the Delhi Capitals in the IPL this season and was pretty impressive with his lines and lengths.

Now, we might actually see this fast bowler make his debut against the West Indies in the test matches and have a go at the Caribbean batters.