Last year, he was picked by Mumbai Indian for Rs 10-lakh but didn’t get a chance to play.
Not a long ago, he was cleaning tables at a restaurant in Goa. Today, Jhunjhunu lad Kulwant Khejroliya is a “Royal” person. The 25-year-old has been picked by Royal Challengers Bangalore for the IPL season 2018. Last year, he was picked by Mumbai Indian for Rs 10-lakh but didn’t get a chance to play.
It is a dream come true but wasn’t easy. He wanted to play cricket against wishes of his parents who are now happy that their son will not only rub shoulders with big cricketing names but will also get lots of money for that.
A native of village Chudi Ajeetgarh, Kulwant 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. Even when he was a child, his grandfather used to go after him to check if he was not in a bad company. Today, all of them are happy for him. When his father asked him to leave the village for earning, he reached Goa and worked as a waiter in a restaurant. However, he returned home after a while. But, cricket bug didn’t let him stay for long.
This time, he moved to Delhi to take up the sport professionally. Khejroliya didn't inform his parents, who thought he had moved to Ahmedabad for work. However, his elder brother Hemant knew that he had gone to Delhi to pursue his dream of becoming a professional cricketer. His father came to know about it six months later.
He played tennis ball cricket in Japanese Park in Rohini and used to umpire during the weekends, both to make ends meet. His coach Bhardwaj helped him. Khejroliya made his first-class debut, playing for Delhi, in 2017 Vijay Hazare Trophy. He picked a fifer last year in a one-dayer against Uttar Pradesh and got to play the Deodhar Trophy, where he impressed in high-scoring games. Soon, he was playing in the Board President’s XI against the visiting Australians.
He bowled well, was noticed and immediately picked by Mumbai Indians at his base price of Rs 10 lakh in the 2017 auction. He has not looked back since. He represents Delhi in first-class games. The villagers are ecstatic that their village boy would be playing in IPL along with Indian and international players. He is expected to visit the village soon before Vijay Hazare trophy game that starts on February 5.
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