Kumar Kartikeya, cricket’s proverbial journeyman, propels MP to semifinals

Left-arm spinner Kumar Kartikeya exorcised his demons – those life had created for him — by taking a six-wicket haul to assist Madhya Pradesh register an emphatic win by 10 wickets in opposition to Punjab on the fourth day of their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal match.

Kartikeya (6 for 50) had a giant say in Punjab’s second innings, scalping six wickets for 50 runs. On Day 3, the 24-year-old accounted for the important wickets of Punjab skipper Abhishek Sharma (17), Shubman Gill (19), Mandeep Singh (17), Gurkeerat Singh Mann (10), Anmol Malhotra (34), and Sanvir Singh (0) to single-handedly demolish Punjab’s batting line-up of their second essay.

Kartikeya’s bowling all through the match was praiseworthy. He obtained flip and bounce from an in any other case docile pitch and showcased considerable management, whereas flighting the ball. At occasions, it appeared there was a string connected to the ball when Kartikeya flighted it as batsmen had been lured into taking part in a giant hit.

Punjab of their second innings, had been bowled out for 203. With 26 wanted to win, Himanshu Mantri (9 not out) and Yash Dubey (17 not out) made certain that MP reached residence in model.

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Kartikeya made his IPL debut for Mumbai Indians and stunned everybody together with his selection. He bowled left-arm wrist-spin, unsuitable’uns, finger spin and even the carrom ball. Kartikeya’s coach Sanjay Bharadwaj, who has skilled the likes of Gautam Gambhir, Amit Mishra, Joginder Sharma and Unmukt Chand, calls him a cricketer of this new period.

“Cricket has changed a lot. Now if you won’t improvise, you are not going to survive. He was a natural finger spinner but before going to the trials of the various IPL teams, he learnt the art of wrist spin, and went on to master it in five to six months,” Bharadwaj instructed the Indian Express.

Struggles as a teen

Bharadwaj nonetheless remembers when a 15-year-old Kartikeya got here to his academy in Delhi, accompanied by certainly one of his pupils, Radhesyham.

“I never knew his family background. He was playing in Kanpur and was not getting games. People were asking for money to let him play cricket. Radheshyam told me, sir, he can’t pay your fees. I specifically told him not to worry about that and just bowl. He bowled one or two balls, and I was astonished. At that age, the amount of drift he was generating was amazing; action was so smooth,” recalled Bharadwaj.

With teaching taken care of, now Kartikeya needed to discover a job to remain afloat within the nationwide capital. So he picked up a labourer’s job in a manufacturing unit in Masuri, a village subsequent to Ghaziabad. He would take the evening shift, and within the morning, he rush to the academy, which was about 80 km from the manufacturing unit. His meal could be one packet of biscuits; generally, even coaching on an empty abdomen.

A 12 months later, Bharadwaj obtained to learn about Kartikeya’s battle and supplied him a keep on the academy.

“Mujhe koi idea nahi tha ki wo labour ka kaam kar raha aur itni duur se aata hai. Kisi academy ke bacche ne hi bataya mujhe. (I had no clue that he is working as labour, someone from the academy told me about his struggle),” mentioned Bharadwaj.

Bharadwaj vividly remembers Kartikeya’s first day on the academy.

“When the prepare dinner gave him meals, he began crying. He instructed me ‘sir ek saal se lunch nahi kiya hai’ (Sir I hadn’t eaten lunch for a 12 months),’ Bharadwaj mentioned.

Kartikeya exorcised his demons – those life had created for him — by taking a six-wicket haul to assist Madhya Pradesh register an emphatic win by 10 wickets in opposition to Punjab. (Express Photo)

Next 12 months, Kartikeya grew to become the highest wicket-taker in Delhi’s prestigious Omnath Sood Tournament. But he was ignored by the DDCA.

“He was not even picked for the trials,” mentioned Bharadwaj.

Bharadwaj would name his good buddy Ajay Dwivedi, President of Shahdol Cricket Association in Madhya Pradesh.

“In early 2018, I sent him to Shahdol. He first represented Madhya Pradesh in the U-23, and by the end of the year, he made his Ranji Trophy debut for Madhya Pradesh,” mentioned Bharadwaj.

Delhi’s loss has undoubtedly turned out to be Madhya Pradesh’s achieve. Since then, he has change into an vital participant for Madhya Pradesh and his coach feels he’ll get to play loads of video games for his franchise within the IPL as effectively.

“Aap dekhna next IPL season saare games khelega Mumbai Indians ke liye (He will play most of the games for Mumbai Indians in the nest IPL season,” mentioned Bharadwaj.

When requested what the key of Kartikeya’s sucess is, the coach replied: “Let me inform you a narrative of how he realized to bowl wrist spin. I dwell within the outskirts of Bhopal, and as soon as his camp in Indore obtained over, he got here to my academy. He mentioned ‘sir nayaa kuchh karna hoga bowling mey (Sir, i should deliver some selection in my bowling).

“At 12 at night, he knocked on my door and said, ‘neend nahi aa rahi lights on kar ke wrist spin ki practice karta hun (I am not able to sleep. I am going to switch on the lights and will try bowling wrist spin). So from that day, he would practice wrist spin bowling every night for at least two hours, and that’s how he mastered it,” Bharadwaj signed off.

Brief Scores:

Punjab: 219 & 203 (Anmol Malhotra 34, Anmolpreet Singh 31; Kumar Kartikeya 6/50, Saransh Jain 4/100) vs Madhya Pradesh 397 & 26 for 0