New Delhi. A contract of 20 lakhs may not seem like a big deal considering the crores of bids on players in the IPL’s mega auction, but for Ramesh Kumar, who has earned a name in tennis ball cricket, this amount means a lot. With this amount, Ramesh ensured that his father no longer had to work as a cobbler to earn a living, nor would his mother have to move from village to village selling bangles in Punjab’s Fazilka district.
Ramesh, popularly known as ‘Narayan Jalalabad’ in tennis ball cricket, is a star on YouTube even before his game with the ball and the bat. His story has reached more people after his contract with Kolkata Knight Riders at auction last weekend. Ramesh had asked his aging parents to stop work several times before, but they never listened to them. After getting the IPL deal, he agreed that his son had a future in the game and that he did not need to wander from street to street. Ramesh, who once scored a 10-ball fifty in a local tournament, said, “They have agreed not to work anymore.” I never wanted them to do this work, but had to do this work under compulsion.
Ramesh also wants to use the money he gets from IPL for the education of his younger brothers. “Life hasn’t changed so far,” he said. Life will change when I perform in IPL. I look at it in a way that I got the platform I needed. Ramesh, 23, from Jalalabad, showed his prowess in the country’s tennis ball tournament for seven years, but it was only last year that he started playing with the ‘leather ball’. Ramesh impressed in the Punjab Cricket Association’s district level tournament after which he was called for the Ranji Trophy camp.
Ramesh credits his career to Punjab batsman and IPL regular Gurkeerat Mann who helped him reach the Knight Riders trials in Mumbai. Knight Riders coach and former India all-rounder Abhishek Nair was also impressed with Ramesh after which the team bought him for his base price. Ramesh narrated how he used to travel to different parts of the country to earn Rs 500 to 1000 a day in tennis ball tournaments and that is why he got the opportunity to board a plane for the first time.
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