xtratime Logo

Xtra Time Web Desk : Kumar Kartikeya Singh, who made his IPL debut in the Mumbai Indians' most recent game astonished everyone as he bowled wristspin, wrong onns, fingerspin, and even the carrom ball with his left arm. Being only known as a left arm orthodox spinner, Kartikeya taught himself wristspin, one of the most difficult arts in cricket and compulsively practised to master it. And according to his coach Sanjay Bharadwaj, who in a recent interview with ESPNcricinfo told that he was successful in T20 cricket because he taught himself wristspin.

And this immense fascination of his drew the 15-year-old Kartikeya from Kanpur to Bharadwaj's academy in Delhi nine years ago. Having assuring his family that his cricket would not add to his father's financial burden, who was just a constable in the Pradeshik Armed Constabulary (PAC), Kartikeya knew no one except for his friend Radheshyam in Delhi, who used to play league cricket, It was his friend, who took him to a number of academies, but they all asked a high cost.

When Bharadwaj was informed that Kartikeya was unable to pay for the tutoring, he agreed to give him a chance. Bharadwaj agreed to train him for free after just one ball in the nets.

"His action was so smooth. His use of fingers imparted action on the ball," said Bharadwaj to ESPNcricinfo.

Kartikeya had to labour for his food and accommodation after his coaching was being taken care of. He began working as a factor worker at Masuri, a village near Ghaziabad around 80 kilometres from the academy. He was able to find shared housing near the factory and used to work all night in the plant and then get to the academy in the morning and would frequently travel miles in order to save INR 10 on a pack of cookies.

Being aware of the situation, Bharadwaj then helped him find a place to stay in the academy's cook's accomodation.

"When the cook gave him lunch, Kartikeya began to cry: he hadn't eaten lunch for a year," said Bharadwaj on Kartikeya's struggles.

After all the above struggles, Bharadwaj helped him join a school, where he played cricket alongside studies and performed superbly in the school tournaments.

"Looking at his ability and dedication, I sent him to my friend and secretary of Shahdol Cricket Association Ajay Dwivedi. "He played division cricket there and took 50-plus wickets in his first two years," added Bharadwaj who was also the coach of stalwarts like Gautam Gambhir and Amit Mishra.

Kartikeya performed superbly in all of his state trial matches and ended up with five-fers. After representing MP at Under-23 level earlier in that, he went on to play Ranji Trophy cricket. When Kartikeya made his debut in 2018, he made Bharadwaj call his father, the coach's lone interaction with the family of his favourite ward.