Kumar Kushagra was bought by Delhi Capitals for INR 7.20 crore in the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction in Dubai on Tuesday. The Jharkhand’s uncapped wicketkeeper-batter’s father, Shashikant, in a recent interview, revealed that Sourav Ganguly had promised him that the franchise would get him at any cost.
“After the trials at Eden (Gardens), Ganguly told Kushagra that he would play for the Delhi Capitals and the franchise would bid for him till Rs 10 crore. At the trials, Ganguly was impressed with his six-hitting ability and ability to play the field. His keeping skills also impressed Ganguly and even told him that there is a bit of MS Dhoni in him when he whips the bails,” Shashikant was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.
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Shashikant, the 19-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman, said that he did not expect to get so much money and thought he would go for his base price of INR 20 lakh.
“I thought he will get picked by Capitals at base price. For a few minutes, I was so numb. One can only think about miracles, and today was that kind of day. He was confident because Ganguly had promised him, but I thought he must have said this to encourage him,” Shashikant said.
Kushagra made the headlines last year when he belted 266 runs during a Ranji Trophy match for Jharkhand and thus became the youngest ever to score a 250 in the tournament.
“I had never played cricket at any level. I was just a keen follower. When he was five and started showing interest in cricket, I decided that I would coach him. A colleague suggested a book named Art and Science of Cricket by Bob Woolmer. I must have read that book at least four or five times. That book became my coach and I started training Kushagra,” Shasikant recalled.
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