Kumar Karthikeyan, the young star of the Mumbai Indians team who has gone from being a factory worker to an IPL star, has revealed the struggles he has faced in his life with his coach Sanjay Bhardwaj.
Kumar Karthikeyan has been included in the Mumbai squad to replace Mohammad Arshad Khan who was injured last week.
Mumbai beat Rajasthan by 5 wickets on April 30 to record their first win in the 2022 IPL.
Karthikeyan, who made his IPL debut against Rajasthan, was instrumental in Mumbai’s victory with 19 runs off 4 overs and 1 wicket.
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Regarding 24-year-old Karthikeyan, his coach Sanjay Bhardwaj said that the mania of wanting to excel in cricket enrolled the 15-year-old cricketer at the Bhardwaj Academy in Delhi, despite Kumar Karthikeyan revealing that he could not pay the fees.
Karthikeyan started working as a laborer in Ghaziabad, about 80 km from the academy, to meet his daily needs.
He worked at night, often walking to the academy in the morning in an attempt to save 10 rupees to buy a packet of biscuits. Bhardwaj said Karthikeyan started crying when the chef of the cricket academy gave him lunch on the first day.
Karthikeyan said he had not eaten lunch for more than a year and had shed tears when he saw the food.
Seeing his talent and dedication, I sent him to my friend and secretary of Shadol Cricket Association Ajay Dwivedi.
He played division cricket there and took more than 50 wickets in the first two years.
Bhardwaj said whenever he is at rest he will start bowling in the nets.