Five year after Ranji Trophy debut, Pune’s pacer Mukesh hogs limelight with CSK

Pune: In normal circumstances, it would have been a battle between Rs 14 crore (Deepak Chahar) and Rs 15.25 crore (Ishan Kishan). But the injury to the former meant the CSK had to unleash their Rs 20 lakh signing (Mukesh Choudhary) on Mumbai Indians’ MVP.
But the 25-year-old Maharashtra left-arm pacer Choudhary gave us the most spectacular sight of the Thursday literally knocking down Ishan with a peach of a swinging delivery.The Man of the Match was a perfect icing on the cake for the Pune lad. And he needed that positive tiding.
In a must-win game in the last group match of the Ranji Trophy, Choudhary went for 72 runs in 11.1 overs in the fourth innings against Uttar Pradesh as Maharashtra lost the plot at Sultanpur, Himahcal Pradesh, last month. And though the Deccan Gymkahana player had bowled well in patches in the preceding five IPL games, he had gone for 14 fours and six sixes in less than 15 overs until that point.
The Bhilwara boy, who came to Maharashtra for academic education in the mid 2010s, has been in the cricket system since 2015-16.
Rajesh Mapurkar, who coaches at 22 Yards, said, “Amey Soman spotted him at Law College ground and brought him here. Top batters in local cricket are always in the lookout for practice bowlers. We realised that there is something special in this boy and opened our doors for him for practice.”
Since 22 Yards didn’t have a team in the MCA invitation league, Choudhary also needed a team. At the same time, Deccan Gymkhana needed a pace bowler. A conversation between 22 Yards’ Surendra Bhave and Deccan’s Mangesh Bhuskute ensured that Choudhary played for Deccan.
A couple of good seasons in the Invitation League gave Choudhary a Ranji cap in 2017 aged 20: A rare case of getting first-class debut at the age without playing much in junior cricket. It opened more doors as MCA nominated him to go to the MRF academy in Chennai where he came under the watchful eyes of iconic Glenn McGrath. Then came stints as net bowler with MI, Sunrisers Hyderabad and CSK before the Chennai outfit took him to the main team.
Former Maharashtra keeper and BCCI match referee Satyajit Satbhai said, “He is a shy, sincere guy and doesn’t have any bad habits. He has got a clean action. He needs backing as he won’t experiment too much himself. He is a perfect player in the CSK set up.” Choudhary is the fourth player from the Deccan Gymkhana stable to play in the IPL after pacers Aditya Dole, Shirkant Mundhe and batter Rahul Tripathi.
Mapurkar said, “Mukesh had told me that the coaches at MRF had asked him to concentrate on strength and conditioning. I have been watching him for seven years and his work ethic is excellent. He spends bare minimum time on social media and mobile. No partying for him too.”
Choudhary has already played 13 first-class games and 12 one-dayers for Maharashtra though that big spell is still missing.
Satbhai said, “I think Kedar Jadhav backed him in the Maharashtra team. I clearly remember a local one-day final between Deccan and PYC sometime in 2016-17 in which he had bowled a maiden over to Kedar.”
Choudhary is yet to bowl a maiden in the IPL and he hasn’t played at Wankhede stadium either. He could get an opportunity to do both on Monday against Punjab.