কুমার কার্তিকেয়

A left-arm orthodox finger spinner who taught himself how to bowl wrist spin in order to succeed in T20 cricket, Kumar Kartikeya started his cricketing journey by leaving his hometown in Uttar Pradesh at the age of 16 with barely any money. In the next few years, he overcame incredible odds, found a generous coach who didn't ask for much in return, and realised his dream of being a cricketer through a lot of hard work and perseverance.

Sanjay Bharadwaj, who has coached players like Gautam Gambhir, Amit Mishra and Nitish Rana in the past, took Kartikeya under his wing when he came to him with no resources at his disposal. Impressed by what he saw, Bharadwaj made all arrangements for Kartikeya to train at his academy in Delhi, and the latter repaid the faith with good performances in local tournaments. However, lack of further opportunities meant that Kartikeya was advised to go to Madhya Pradesh where he eventually made his first-class debut in 2018 at the age of 23.

Kartikeya didn't take long to start churning out impressive performances for the state with his finger-spin. The switch to wrist spin in white ball cricket happened a few months before IPL 2022. On Bharadwaj's advice, Kartikeya began practicing the art by pouring hours and hours in the nets. He saw Youtube videos and taught himself the different grips and variations. An opportunity soon came calling as Mumbai Indians roped him in as a replacement for Arshad Khan. And Kartikeya immediately made an impact, getting rid of Sanju Samson on debut and helping MI snap their eight-match losing streak.

The next few months were arguably even more special for Kartikeya as he played a major role in Madhya Pradesh's historic Ranji Trophy title triumph in 2022. He was the leading wicket-taker of the season for them, with 32 wickets at an average of 21. Kartikeya didn't stop there either, aggregating over 30 wickets in each of the next two seasons of the Ranji Trophy as well.