Mukesh Kumar, the Indian pacer bowler, was roped in for a whopping INR 5.5 crore by the Delhi franchise in the mini-auction of the Indian T20 League on December 23, Friday, post a heavy bidding war against Chennai and the Punjab franchise. For the unversed, the pacer was selected for the ODI series against South Africa earlier this year in October and failed to get a match under his belt in the contest.
Taking cognizance of his stupendous run in the domestic circuit, the Delhi think tank went all out for the player and roped him in for the approaching season of the auction. Mukesh, who opened up on the auction on Thursday, said that it would be a dream to play in the Indian T20 League and claimed that it would help him to make his family proud.
As far as his records are concerned, the Indian pacer has played in 23 T20s and has racked up 25 wickets so far at an economy of around 7, making him the best aspiring pacer among the current set of cricketers. The Delhi franchise would hope to have his services felt during the approaching season and turn things around from the 2020 edition of the Indian T20 League when they lost to Mumbai in the finals.
It will be a huge thing for me to be selected in a team: Mukesh Kumar
The aspiring Indian pacer claimed that it would be vital for him to take part in the Indian T20 League and make a comeback to the national squad. Although Mukesh got a national call-up, he had to sit out without playing a game for the Men in Blue in the series against Proteas in October.
“Umeed pe to duniya kaayam hai (Hope is everything). I had been called for trials by a few teams, but at that moment I was in Bangladesh for the India A series. It will be a huge thing for me to be selected in an Indian T20 League team because that was the dream of my father. He wanted to see me play in the Indian T20 League. So I hope that some or the other team picks me, and I get an opportunity to play,” Mukesh was quoted as saying.
“I had a crucial partnership with Saini bhai down the order against Bangladesh A. I scored 23-24 runs, while Saini bhai got to his half-century. I definitely am working on my batting because I believe if I get to face 10 balls, I need to score at least 15-20 runs. I want to contribute in more than one department, and so I am working hard on my fielding and batting too apart from my bowling,” he added.
