Mukesh Kumar

A cookie-cutter right-arm seamer who can nip the ball both ways, Mukesh Kumar was born in the rural town of Gopalganj in Bihar. His initial goal was to clear the exams required to join the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Bihar Police and while he cleared the written exams in 2012, he wasn’t able to meet the required fitness levels and that led Mukesh to turn towards cricket as a serious career choice. With opportunities being slim in Bihar, Mukesh moved to Kolkata on the behest of his father who held hopes of his son representing Bengal. Training under Birendra Singh at Bani Niketan Sports Club, Mukesh impressed in division league cricket.

A lucky break in 2014 meant that Mukesh Kumar was shortlisted in the state trials run under Sourav Ganguly’s Vision 2020 programme, a camp which had attracted more than 300 candidates. Despite struggling for fitness in that period, he was helped by the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) and his impressive performances at the club level earned him a spot in Bengal’s Ranji Trophy squad in 2015. He failed to feature in the side regularly though as a combination of injuries and lacklustre performances kept him out. It wasn’t until the 2018-19 season that he was able to break into the side on a regular basis and it was in the semi-finals of that season where he made everyone sit up and take notice. His figures of 6-61 in the second innings against a star-studded Karnataka batting line-up containing the likes of KL Rahul, Karun Nair and Manish Pandey helped power Bengal through to the final.

Mukesh continued to perform consistently at the domestic level and his efforts were rewarded when he was called up to India’s ODI side for a series against South Africa in 2022. While he didn’t make his India debut then or in the series that followed when he made the squad for India’s tour to Sri Lanka, Mukesh was in the headlines after fetching a whopping sum in the 2022 IPL Auction. Initially not even expecting himself to get picked up, Mukesh found himself getting bought by the Delhi Capitals for a staggering INR 5.5 crore - the second highest bid for an uncapped player that year. A modest man who prefers the farm to the city, Mukesh Kumar has risen through the ranks as a capable fast bowler.

Post the IPL, he was named in all three squads for India’s tour of West Indies in 2023. He made his Test debut at Port of Spain, picking two wickets in the first innings. Mukesh got his chances in the limited overs games that followed as well, becoming only the second Indian after T Natarajan to debut in all three formats on the same tour.

Mukesh Kumar was picked for the Test series against South Africa, and played and performed well in the Cape Town Test - picking four wickets in the match. His accuracy and control over swings makes up for his lack of pace, and that could be one of the reasons he is amongst the selectors favourites across formats.

By Anurag Hegde