Gopalganj Bihar-born pacer Mukesh Kumar has emerged as a big revelation for the Indian Test team since he came into limelight during IPL 2023 for his accurate and disciplined Test line length for the Capitals of Delhi. Since then, he has been a part of every Indian Test team and has given some credit to captain Rohit Sharma for his recent rise.
Mukesh Kumar made his Test debut last year in July during India’s 2-match Test series in the West Indies. He was a substitute player along with Yashasvi Jaiswal during India’s 209-run defeat against Australia in the World Test Championship final at Oval, a month before winning his international debut.
After his debut in the second Test against the West Indies, Mukesh did not have to wait too long to make his debut with the white ball. His T20I and ODI debut came on the same tour and he was also selected in the team that toured South Africa last month.
He has already played 11 ODIs and 6 T20Is but is yet to settle his place in the Test team. He was left out of the first Test at Centurion, where India lost by an innings and 32 runs, but replaced Shardul Thakur in the second Test in which India produced a big turnaround to win by 7 wickets.
In that match, Mukesh Kumar harnessed his strength, showed his skills and gave a glimpse of what was to come. In the first innings during Mohammed Siraj’s 15/6, Mukesh took 2 wickets and South Africa were bowled out for 55 runs. Of the 23 wickets that fell on Day 1, the right-arm pacer was lucky to have his name there.
Then in the second Test, Mukesh produced his best performance yet holding an awkward line against the Proteas batsmen. He will remember the Newlands Test not only because he was part of an Indian team that won a first Test match there, but also because it was he who eliminated Dean Elgar, who was playing his farewell Test match.
“He is always there when we seek feedback,” Mukesh Kumar on Rohit Sharma’s guidance
The 30-year-old gave a little insight into what happens when players practice in the nets. Mukesh Kumar stated that Rohit Sharma is always looking after the players and shares his feedback whenever one needs it. He claimed that Rohit advises players on the type of balls and lines they can hit, which can cause problems for batsmen, especially in strange conditions.
“He always tells us about areas to play when we look for comments on the networks. He was telling us that if you bowl the ball in this particular length and channel, you can cause us problems,” Mukesh Kumar told PTI.
“The plan was to go back on length deliveries”, Mukesh Kumar reveals his plan against South Africa
Knowing that the South African pitches are nothing like the Indian pitches, Mukesh also mentioned the game plan ahead of the second Test. He said that if the players bowled fuller deliveries, then there were chances of a great shot and that is why the game plan was to bowl a length of 6 to 8 meters and wait for the surface to produce bounce on its own.
“If you play fuller in India, the ball moves in the air, but here, if you try to play fuller, you will get crushed. So we decided to bowl with a length of 6-8 meters and since there is a lot of bounce on offer, you can get wickets,” concluded Mukesh.
Mukesh Kumar has a great First Class record, taking 155 wickets in 41 matches. He has performed well on the international circuit so far although the best is yet to come. The only thing the Indian team will hope for is that Mukesh becomes their frontline players like Bumrah, Siraj and Shami.
