Fast bowler Mukesh Kumar, who made his international debut in all formats in the tour of West Indies earlier this year, is hoping for a long-term stay with the Indian team from the upcoming T20 international series against Australia. In a ‘new look’, the Indian team will play a five-match T20 International series against Australia from Thursday. Along with this, both the teams will start preparations for the upcoming T20 World Cup, which will start after about seven months.
The 30-year-old right-arm bowler Mukesh is determined to capitalize on this opportunity. He will want to build on his success in the domestic circuit and the Indian Premier League as it earned him a place in the national team. Mukesh told ‘Jio Cinema’, “I want to play regularly for my country, that will be my first achievement. I want to focus on the process. Just by sticking to it, I am getting results, so I am want to Focus and move on.”
Mukesh, who plays for Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League (IPL), believes that the T20 competition will feature tough matches, which will help the Indian players prepare well.
Mukesh said, “There are many tough matches in IPL. All the teams have international players and they are among the best cricketers. It is really tough to play on this stage and it is a great experience for me.” He shared the dressing room with senior Indian fast bowler Ishant Sharma which helped him a lot.
Mukesh said, “As far as Ishant Bhaiyya (Sharma) is concerned, he helped me a lot. He explained my role in the team clearly, so I want to be very honest in what is expected of me.”
Mukesh made his debut in Test cricket after which he played his first ODI and T20 International match. On being present in the dressing room with the players whom he had seen only on TV, the Bengal fast bowler said, “When I saw my teammates in the Indian team, my mind stopped working for a while. I started thinking that yesterday I used to. To watch these players on TV and today I got a chance to practice with them and share the dressing room.”
Mukesh said, “Virat (Kohli) bhai told me that I was bowling well. When the practice match was going on, Rohit (Sharma) bhai also came and spoke to me and gave me suggestions.”
Talking about the tough journey he had to make to reach the national team, the fast bowler said, “My family used to live in Kolkata but I couldn’t stay there. I used to travel to play tennis ball cricket so I missed out. Every The cost of the match will be around Rs 500.”
He said, “Suddenly there came a time when my father insisted that I should stay with the family. I was looking for a job and my father asked me to look for opportunities in cricket in Kolkata. I had to go for trials. After this, I got to play in the first division. Got a chance.” Mukesh said, “We didn’t have much money to buy a complete kit. Earlier I used to bat as well but due to financial constraints, I started focusing only on bowling.”
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