IPL stories can be tear-jerking for sure.
Most of the budding Indian cricketers come from underprivileged backgrounds, and their progression to the IPL in the face of adversity can move anyone to tears.
Mangesh Yadav is one such story, if you remember. Last year at the auction, Mangesh, son of a truck driver, fetched ₹5.2 crore and joined Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). Stories like that make the IPL a truly remarkable event. Not just the Indian cricketers, the IPL has also changed the lives of many foreign cricketers who, prior to their associations, were not exactly rich.
Mangesh, who is a left-arm seam bowler, and his father recently sat down with RCB Bold Diaries, and recounted how they struggled together. And frankly, these stories make one believe in miracles.
Mangesh’s father, Ramavadh said: “A truck driver’s life is no life. Neither we get to eat properly nor we get to bathe properly. If the truck is full, we have the worry to unload it and if it’s empty, we have to worry about reloading it.
“I had to struggle a lot for Mangesh’s expenses. Sometimes I would not be able to sleep at night because of that money and would keep thinking while driving on the road where I should get this money from to make his ends meet.
“I would think coming from there and those who were very close to me would ask them on the phone as well if I could receive some help. I would ensure that his and my expenses were taken care of. The struggle was real and we kept fighting it.”
Many more people played a part in Mangesh’s success!
One’s success is never one’s alone. Mangesh had talent, and his father was willing to break his back to help him achieve his dream. However, many more people were instrumental to his rise from nowhere.
His uncle and coach Phool Chand Sharma did their bit too. “I would play with a tennis ball or a stumper ball made of rubber. Then I went to the village. My uncle saw me playing and thought I could play professionally. Then I played a few professional tennis tournaments. He liked it. Then he sent me to Delhi to meet Phool Sir,” Mangesh said.
Mangesh made his name in the Madhya Pradesh T20 League. Shedding light on what his childhood was like, the 23-year-old said: “When I was a little kid, I would go out to play, the kids would fight among themselves and then I would go home crying,” before his dad added, “He would tell his mum that he would not play with anyone. Just bring me a bat and a ball. When we bought him a bat and a ball, his mum used to bowl to him in the small courtyard, and he would bat.”
Defending champions RCB kick off the 19th season of the league on March 28 against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Their Aussie import, Josh Hazlewood has been ruled out of the first few matches as he is nursing injuries. Then Yash Dayal has been ruled out entirely.
One person’s yuck is another person’s yum. In light of that, Mangesh can be expected to make his IPL debut sooner rather than later.
