Hustle se Haasil: Mangesh Yadav's incredible journey from local tournaments to RCB
The latest iteration of the IPL mini-auction saw RCB go toe-to-toe with Sunrisers Hyderabad in an attempt to land one of the budding left-arm quicks, Mangesh Yadav. A shining name in the domestic circuit, Mangesh was also instrumental in the Madhya Pradesh T20 League. It was a dream come true for the young left arm seamer. But the struggle behind it all was immense.
From the sacrifices made by his family to his coach and trainer doing everything possible to shape the young seamer and prove his worth, it was an incredible journey. In the latest episode of RCB Bold Diaries, Mangesh Yadav, his childhood coach, Phool Chand Sharma and his father opened up about all the struggles they undertook to fulfil a dream.
Talking on RCB Bold Diaries, highlighting the early struggles of how he would run to make ends meet, Mangesh’s father said, “A truck driver’s life is no life. Neither we get to eat properly nor we get to bathe properly. If the truck is full, we have the worry to unload it and if it’s empty, we have to worry about reloading it.”
Mangesh chimed in with a glimpse into his childhood, stating, “When I was a little kid, I would go out to play, the kids would fight among themselves and then I would go home crying.”
His father added, “He would tell his mum that he would not play with anyone. Just bring me a bat and a ball. When we bought him a bat and a ball, his mum used to bowl to him in the small courtyard, and he would bat.”
Eventually when Mangesh got a glimpse of professional cricket, it all started with local tournaments. Mangesh said, “I would play with a tennis ball or a stumper ball made of rubber. Then I went to the village. My uncle saw me playing and thought I could play professionally. Then I played a few professional tennis tournaments. He liked it. Then he sent me to Delhi to meet Phool Sir.”
However, surviving in Delhi was expensive. His father summed up how he would always go the extra mile to ensure that Mangesh would never have challenges. He said, “I had to struggle a lot for Mangesh’s expenses. Sometimes I would not be able to sleep at night because of that money and would keep thinking while driving on the road where I should get this money from to make his ends meet.”
He further added, “I would think coming from there and those who were very close to me would ask them on the phone as well if I could receive some help. I would ensure that his and my expenses were taken care of. The struggle was real and we kept fighting it.”
