All you need to know about CSK’s new pace sensation Mukesh Choudhary

From being a Sunrisers Hyderabad net bowler to emerging as the key pacer for Chennai Super Kings, Mukesh Choudhary has had a fairytale ride over the last few months

Ruturaj Gaikwad enthralling his home crowd was anticipated by a capacity crowd at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium on Sunday. But the Maharashtra cricket connoisseurs were also looking forward to another intra-Maharashtra mini-battle later on during Chennai Super Kings’ face-off versus Sunrisers Hyderabad.

They had to wait till the sixth over into the chase. And the all-Pune one-on-one lasted a solitary ball. Rahul Tripathi, arguably the most successful IPL cricketer from Pune so far, marked his guard, Mukesh Choudhary bowled a perfect short ball that shaped in, Tripathi attempted an upper-cut straight into the palms of Simrajeet Singh at short-third.

Choudhary heaved an ecstatic scream while Tripathi continued to shake his head en route his long way back to the change room, even stomping his fist onto the bat while crossing the rope in agony.

Despite being at the receiving end in the personal battle and the match, Tripathi was one of the first Sunrisers to give Choudhary a warm hug after the game for his four-wicket haul. After all, the Maharashtra batter has been one of the staunchest supporters of Choudhary ever since he faced him in the nets for the first time at the 22 Yards Cricket Academy in 2015.

He may not be as fast as Umran Malik or Kuldeep Sen, but Choudhary has definitely been one of the most feel-good stories of the Indian Premier League’s 2022 edition. From being a Sunrisers Hyderabad net bowler to repeating the same during IPL 2021’s UAE with Chennai Super Kings to emerging as the key pacer for the yellow brigade, Choudhary has had a fairytale ride over the last few months.

But it hasn’t been as smooth sailing for the left-arm pacer who has grabbed the attention of the cricket world after traversing through various corners of the country.

He was born in Bhilwara district in Rajasthan and did his primary schooling at a residential school in Jaipur near his maternal grandparents’ home. His parents - father Gopal, who is into stone-crushing business and mother Prembai - had moved from Rajasthan to Darwha in the 1980s. Darwha is a small town almost an hour’s drive from Yavatmal, a district headquarter in Maharashtra’s Vidarbha region.