The Mukul Choudhary story: Ranji Trophy debut was marred by umpire's error, father left RAS to make son play cricket

The 21-year-old from Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan, captured the imagination of one and all after playing an unbeaten 54-run knock off just 27 balls to help Rishabh Pant's LSG stage an improbable win against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Thursday. At one stage, he was batting on 2 off 8 balls; however, he changed gears in the death overs, hitting his next 19 balls for 52 runs to seal a thrilling victory for LSG.

Just like several other names in Indian cricket, Mukul's story is all about sacrifice and the hardships his parents endured. A big MS Dhoni, who wants to finish more and more games for his team, got to realise his dream after his father left the preparation for the Rajasthan Administrative Service just to ensure his son got the best training possible to realise the dream of becoming a cricketer.

“But at that time, when I was small, the family situation wasn't such that he could put me in an academy or somewhere at an early age. But then, slowly, he used to teach at the college and also prepare for the RAS himself. So he realised that either I could do my preparation or make him play. So he left that and did some property work, so some money came in, so then when I turned 12, he put me in the SBS Cricket Academy in Sikar for the first time,” he added.

"I believe that family support is very important. You can't do this much alone for so long without someone's support. So Papa always felt that because at that age, you can easily get distracted. He didn't want that to happen. My mother taught at the same school, and my sister studied there. There's a school there as well. I used to practice there. The school was in front, and the ground was here. They have a new setup now, but I am talking about earlier. I used to practice on the ground all day, sleep there during the day after going home and eating," said Mukul.

“Then, when I came to Jaipur five years ago, I tried living alone in a hostel for five or six months, but it didn't work out. You can either play or do those chores. So my mother and sister have always been there for me. They always stayed with me,” he added.

Recalling his Ranji debut, Choudhary said that the umpire gave a wrong decision and in the end, it resulted in his first stint in the red-ball competition getting off to a bad start.

“I was performing very well at that time. I performed very well in the Under-19s, so they put me in the Under-23s. I did well there, too. When I made my Ranji Trophy debut, I only got one innings. It was a close call, but it was not out. But it's okay, those things happen,” said Choudhary.

“But then that season was over. So I didn't feel too bad. I only got one inning; you can't do much with that. Everyone wants to do their best on debut. But you can't judge anyone from one innings, and no one said much either. So it wasn't a big deal for me because I had performed very well that season overall,” he added.

Click here to read article