Mukesh Kumar has fought the odds to make it big in cricket in India. He has battled his late father, malnutrition, and even a medical condition called Bone Edema, and he has been rewarded with a call-up to the Indian Test set-up at the age of 29.
"Kehte hai na agar aap Test nahin khele toh kya khele... (Like they say, what have you done if you didn't play Tests)," the Bengal pacer told PTI after being selected in the Test as well as ODI squads for the upcoming tour of the West Indies. "My dream is now in front of me. I always wanted to be here -- to play Tests for India. And, I've finally arrived."
His late father Kashinath Singh died in 2019. He was against Mukesh playing cricket and wanted to join Central Reserve Police Force. But Mukesh failed his CRPF exams twice while his cricketing dream was also heading nowhere after representing the Bihar U19 side.
He then moved to Bengal to play 'khep' cricket — where one represents unaffiliated clubs in tennis ball cricket to earn Rs 500 to Rs 5000 per match.
Besides suffering from malnutrition, Mukesh also had an issue — bone edema — where one has excessive fluid in his knees, so he would miss games, and end up either in hospitals or rehab centres. The 'Summer of 2014' changed it all for Mukesh when he came under the radar of former Bengal speedster Ranadeb Bose.
It was during Cricket Association of Bengal's ambitious programme 'Vision 2020' — that was introduced by then CAB secretary Sourav Ganguly to find and groom talents for 2020 — Bose spotted the "frail-looking" Mukesh.
It was not just his speed, but the ability to bowl long spells in that probing outside off-stump line throughout the day, that impressed Bose. Even as he was rejected in the trials, Bose went out of his way to convince Ganguly and take him under his wing.
CAB took care of his diet, MRIs, and medical bills, and arranged a dormitory at Eden Gardens. It was all about rehab and core strengthening for Mukesh for about a year, and Mukesh kept at it relentlessly.
He did not play any First Division clubs before making his Ranji debut for Bengal against Haryana in 2015-16 and Bose, the then Bengal bowling coach, recollects an interesting story.
"My job was at stake, then at the end of the day, the first wicket he got was that of Sehwag in Lahli. He saved his career and my job," Bose said.
Mukesh played four games in his debut season only to get injured in 2016-17 after playing two matches.
It was once again a struggle as he lost rhythm and was sidelined with the return of Mohammed Shami and Ashok Dinda in their ranks.
But he came to the fore once again in 2018-19 when he impressed with 22 wickets from five matches and went on to form Bengal's formidable three-pronged pace attack with Ishan Porel and Akash Deep who took Bengal to two Ranji Trophy finals, in 2019-20 and 2022-23.
He has not looked back since then. An India A regular, Mukesh has 18 wickets at 17.50 on average including five-fors against New Zealand A and Bangladesh A.
"I'm sure Dad would be happy now seeing my rise," an emotional Mukesh continued.
"Mummy, papa's support will always be there and to all my friends for believing in me... Vision 2020. Sourav Ganguly Sir, Joydeep (Mukherjee) Sir and my guru Ranadeb Bose sir who has always guided me in red-ball cricket," he said, dedicating his rise to them.
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