This Cricketer Worked As A Waiter Without Telling His Dad & Now He Is A Part Of ‘Royal’ Squad
The two-day event of IPL 2018 Auction wrapped up that was held in Bengaluru. The eight franchises participating in the 2018 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) have gone to new extents to buy the players. Earlier, the franchises retained a few players from their previous teams and some of them were expected though some were surprising.
In the auction, there are many unexpected picks that shocked the cricket fans like Chennai boy Ravichandran Ashwin made his way to the Kings XI Punjab, it was an eerie moment for all the fans back in Chennai, with Chennai Super Kings bagged Harbhajan Singh in a cross-state transfer. Whereas, Delhi bagged Gautam Gambhir, Glenn Maxwell.
Ben Stokes was the highest paid overseas player in the auction with 12.5 crores bagged by Rajasthan Royals. The team also bought Jaydev Unadkat for a whopping amount of Rs 11.5 crore. Apart from the international player, many of the budding talents, as well as the experienced campaigners, came into the limelight at the auction.
One such face is of Jhunjhunu lad Kulwant Khejroliya. The story of the youngster seems to be very inspiring as he faced many struggles from his childhood. He did various jobs like a waiter for the living. He used to clean tables in a restaurant in Goa. But, today, Kulwant is a ‘Royal’ person. The 25-year-old has been picked by Royal Challengers Bangalore for the IPL 2018.
Earlier, he was picked by Mumbai Indians for Rs 10 lakh but didn’t get a chance to play. It is a dream come true for every player but doesn’t be easy. Kulwant wanted to play cricket against wishes of his parents. He was from Chudi Ajeetgarh, left home because his family was not happy that he was not earning. His father asked him to leave the village to make a living.
When his father asked him to leave the village, he went to Goa and worked as a waiter in a restaurant. However, he returned home after a while. But, passion for cricket didn’t let him stay for long. This time, he moved to Delhi to take up the sport professionally. Kulwant did not inform his parents that he is moving to Delhi, but they sent him to Ahmedabad.
However, his brother Hemant knew that he had gone to Delhi to pursue his dream of becoming a professional cricketer. He used to play tennis ball cricket in Japanese Park in Rohini and used to umpire during the weekends. His coach Bhardwaj helped him to chase his dream. But Kulwant’s father came to know it after six months.
Finally, Kulwant Khejroliya made his first-class debut, playing for Delhi in 2017 Vijay Hazare Trophy. He came to limelight when he took fifer in a one-day against Uttar Pradesh and got to play the Deodhar Trophy. Soon, he made the Board President’s XI against the visiting Australia.
That’s how the youngster was noticed and picked by Mumbai Indians last year IPL auction. Since then, he has not look back. The villagers are delighted that their boy would be playing in IPL along with Indian and International players. We hope Kulwant Khejroliya would impress the selectors with his performance and have a great future.