Right-armer Mukesh Kumar, who made his international debut in all formats during the West Indies tour earlier this year, has set his sights on a long stint with the Indian team, starting with the upcoming T20I series against Australia. New India will clash against Australia here on Thursday in a five-match T20I series, which will give both rivals a good run in the format as the next T20 World Cup is around seven months away.
The 30-year-old Mukesh is determined to make the most of this opportunity as he looks to build on the success he has achieved in the domestic circuit and in the Indian Premier League, which led to his national call-up.
“I want to play regularly for my country, that will be my first achievement. I want to keep focusing on the processes. I can see the results if I stick to them, so I want to keep focusing and moving forward,” he said. Jio cinema.
Mukesh, who plays for the Delhi Capitals in the IPL, believes the T20 league provides “toughest matches” and helps the Indian players prepare well.
“IPL provides the toughest matches. All teams are filled with international players and they too are among the best. Playing on this stage is really tough and a very good experience for me,” said Mukesh.
After sharing the dressing room with senior Indian pacer Ishant Sharma, Mukesh recognizes the support the lanky pacer has provided him.
“As far as Ishant bhaiya’s (Sharma) role is concerned, he has supported me a lot. He explained my role in the team very clearly, so I just wanted to be honest about what was expected of me,” he said.
Mukesh was the first to make his debut in Test cricket and his first matches in ODI and T20Is soon followed and the Bangladesh seamer says it was a humbling experience sharing the dressing room with players he had only seen on TV.
“When I saw my Indian teammates for the first time, my mind stopped functioning for a moment. I thought these were the players I saw on TV until yesterday and today I got a chance to warm up and share the dressing room with them” , he said.
“Virat (Kohli) bhai told me that I was bowling well. Rohit (Sharma) bhai also came to talk to me when the test matches were going on and gave suggestions,” he recalled.
The road to the national team was tough for Mukesh.
“My family would stay in Calcutta, but I would not stay there. I would continue to travel to play tennis ball cricket, which would earn me around Rs 500 per match,” he said.
“Suddenly there was a phase when my father insisted that I stay with the family. I was looking for a job and my father asked me to look out for cricketing opportunities in Calcutta. After that, I got an opportunity to play in the First Division to play. to give trials.” “We didn’t have that much money to buy a full kit. I used to bat too, but I shifted focus to bowling due to lack of money,” he added.
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