After the initial celebrations had ebbed at the Eden on Thursday night, Mukul Choudhary had a quiet moment of reflection. It turns out his thoughts had travelled back to where it had all begun -- a dream his father had long carried before he had even existed.
"I dedicate this to my father," Mukul said. "Even before he got married he always thought of making his son a cricketer. My father had a dream that his son has to play cricket." In his phone book, he has saved him as 'Papa'.
The 'Papa' is happy but guarded. "It's a normal thing (dedicating the effort to the father). There is no excitement necessarily," Dalip, who moved mountains to make his son play cricket, tells Cricbuzz matter-of-factly. "Ranji Trophy, Vijay Hazare, Mushtaq Ali and IPL... he now has to play for the country. There is no other option for him."
The genesis of Dilip's big dreams traces back to Sachin Tendulkar's Ferrari. This was from a time when he was not yet married, and Tendulkar owned a Ferrari worth over INR 1 crore, with customs duty alone amounting to as much. To him, it symbolised the rewards of playing for the country. From that moment, he was determined to make his children cricketers.
"I've seen players like Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar on television, though I've never seen them in person. We used to play cricket in our village with very limited facilities - sometimes even getting a carpenter to make a bat and playing with whatever we had. Back then, I used to wonder how famous they were and how many people watched them. I remember hearing that Tendulkar had a Ferrari from abroad, worth around 1 crore, with as much going in taxes.
"That made me realise how much money and respect there was in cricket. We kept playing despite the lack of facilities, and I made up my mind that I would train my children to become cricketers. I was blessed with Mukul (in 2004) and then a daughter (who is preparing for the Civil Services examination). I trained Mukul in the hard way, working on his physical preparation for 10-12 years.
"I used to take him to the ground in the morning and evening. I made him work out, ensured he exercised regularly, and took care of his diet. It is very important to become an athlete before becoming a cricketer, so I focused on making him an athlete first.
"From 2003 to 2010, I was preparing for the Rajasthan Administrative (Civil) Services. As he started growing up around 2010-11, I took up some property work to earn money. Later, around 2013-14, I built my own house and also had a small piece of agricultural land in Jhunjhunu."
But the home comfort was short-lived as Dalip had to sell it off for the career of Mukul. He moved to Sikar first then to Jaipur where the Choudharys currently live in a rented house.
"I took him to Sikar in 2015. I had some savings then, but by 2017 I ran short of money. That's when I sold my house for INR 21.11 lakh to manage expenses. Then in 2019, I took a bank loan and started a small business. Over time, I raised about 3 crore - taking loans from the bank, my brothers, my in-laws, and friends. But I never let him face any shortage of facilities.
"I stayed with him in Sikar for five years and never left him in a hostel, so that he would be taken care of properly, especially his food. In 2022, we moved to Jaipur with my family. I continue to stay in Jaipur on rent." Then he went on to say that one day he will build a house, pay back the loans to the bank, and to the relatives.
The confidence stems from the fact that Mukul has started earning well. He has landed an INR 2.6 crore IPL payday with Lucknow Super Giants - incidentally, the only franchise that did not call him for trials. The story goes that an LSG video analyst spotted him during a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) match and flagged the management about him. He had attended trials for Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals, the two teams that bid for the 21-year-old at the auction before LSG snapped him up.
Mukul has played four first-class matches, five List A games and 10 T20 matches. Experts in Jaipur believe he is well suited to white-ball rather than red ball cricket. "He has a good range of shots and will be particularly effective in white-ball formats," says Rahul Kanwat, a Rajasthan selector who picked Mukul for the Ranji Trophy in 2023.
Mukul, who has only played three IPL games, caught the attention of the scouts primarily during the Under-23 List A tournament last season, when he hammered 617 runs in nine matches - the most by any player. He also set a record for the most sixes (39) in the tournament, a quality that was well on display in his match-winning effort at the Eden Gardens, where he struck seven maximums in 24-ball unbeaten 54.
The breakout performance, of course, came against Delhi. He guided Rajasthan to a three-wicket victory with an unbeaten 62, scoring 24 off the final over - a blitz that earned him high praise. "He told me that he would not go for less than 1 crore at the auction," Dalip recalls. He ended up securing a deal more than double his expectations. As the big bucks begin flowing for the Choudharys, they could soon buy a Ferrari of their own.
