Inspirational Life Stories of Five IPL Cricketers.

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Inspirational Life Stories of Five IPL Cricketers.

Indian Premier League (IPL) brings lots of action, thrills, and stories. The cricketers inspire the fans with their dynamic skills on the field.

These on-field journeys of cricketers dig out their life stories, which make the fans shiver and respect their journey through the rugged terrain.

The platform has provided talented cricketers from all corners of the country to showcase their skills and grab attention.

From Hardik Pandya to Jasprit Bumrah to T Natarajan in recent times, we have witnessed cricketers coming up from humble backgrounds and making it big in the IPL.

IPL has been a wonderful platform for players who dream to play cricket. Players are no longer required to represent the nation to take care of their families and finances. The IPL helps them care of that aspect wonderfully well.

IPL’s tagline itself resonates strongly with this fact. It says, “Where Talent Meets Opportunity”. There have been plenty of wonderful stories about how IPL has shaped the lives of hundreds of cricketers.

In this piece of article, we will speak about 5 cricketers who have inspirational stories.

All in all, the IPL is a life-transforming event in the lives of these players which every year tremendously aids them to climb up the economic ladder along with their utter passion.

Hence, let’s take a look at-

1. Mohammed Siraj

Mohammad Siraj’s rise in international cricket is a great fairytale. Siraj has come up the ranks from a very humble background.

His family could hardly meet ends but Siraj wanted to be a cricketer. His (late) father, an auto-rickshaw driver believed in his son’s dreams.

The self-made bowler made headlines when he tottered 41 wickets from his 9 matches during his Ranji Trophy debut season for Hyderabad. There he grew up under the umbrella of Bharat Arun, the current bowling coach of India.

Siraj and his family’s fortunes changed when he got his IPL breakthrough in 2017 when Sunrisers Hyderabad signed him for Rs 2.6 crore. His sumptuous pace allured the franchises to race for him. His life took a straight turn since then.

He is currently one of the leading pacers in the country. His rise has been phenomenal.

2. Chetan Sakariya

Not many people knew the name Chetan Sakariya before the IPL.

While playing for Saurashtra in SMAT, Chetan’s younger brother died by suicide.

His family hid the incident from him for ten-day as they did not want to affect his games. When he was informed about the incident later, it left him numb. Chetan Sakariya’s smile hides immense pain and grief.

Chetan’s father who was a truck driver once was also bedridden after meeting three accidents and some surgeries.

At that time, the IPL auction was knocking at the door and he bagged an IPL contract with Rajasthan Royals for Rs 1.2 crore.

That boosted their economy, though the emotional crisis was not erased. Chetan had a memorable IPL debut. He picked up three scalps at an economic rate of 7.8.

The left-arm pacer learned the craft on his own with a tennis ball. Chetan fetched a scholarship while playing U19 games.

He joined the MRF Pace Foundation with that money but training shoes appeared luxurious for him. While training with the first-class cricketers, Sheldon Jackson handed him a pair of shoes.

3. T Natarajan

The life story of T Natarajan, who always troubled the batsmen with his yorkers, is also quite an inspiration as his childhood was spent in poverty.

The emerging T20 specialist, T Natarajan, until the age of 20 played only tennis-ball cricket.

Living in a village 36 km off Salem, he had barely known what a cricket ground looked like. The eldest among the five siblings, Natarajan, had tried his hands at all sorts of jobs like selling newspapers and delivering milk to support his family financially.

After playing lots of tennis-ball tournaments, Natarajan impressed some officials who later allowed him to play in divisional TNCA matches in 2010-11.

The tennis-ball games excelled his ability to place perfect yorkers. This skill became his ladder to success.

He was out of cricket action for two years as he was suspected for his bowling action.

However, with the help of the BCCI officials, the matter was clarified and was picked up by Kings XI Punjab for IPL 10 for an amount of Rs 3 crore.

In a nutshell, from having no clarity about professional cricket to representing India in international cricket, his story inspires all the small-town people.

By the way, for your information, let us tell you that T Natarajan was selected in the IPL in the team of Sunrisers Hyderabad in the year 2017, after that in view of his good performances in the IPL, he got selected in the Indian team in the year 2021.

4. Yashasvi Jaiswal

Yashasvi Jaiswal was one of India’s stars in the U-19 World Cup in 2020. He even became the youngest double centurion in List A cricket.

Yashasvi’s life is also full of inspiration, he has also faced a lot of difficulties in his life, and he has also put pani puri stall on the streets of Mumbai to earn some money, and due to lack of a home, he was sleeping on the roadside.

But despite these difficulties in life, Yashasvi thought of making a career in cricket and never look back, and as a result, today he plays as an opener in the world’s most famous T20 league 'The Indian Premier League.'

Rajasthan Royals picked Jaiswal for INR 3.2 crores in 2020 auctions. This IPL salary changed his and his family’s life forever.

5. Rinku Singh

Rinku Singh might now be a recognizable name in the KKR camp, but to pursue his dream of playing cricket, both Rinku and his family have endured a lot of hardships and setbacks.

Coming from Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, and born into a family where his father worked in the LPG distribution company, along with his brother being an auto-rickshaw driver, Rinku Singh had to work as a domestic help worker, so his family of eight members could sustain themselves for a living.

It was after his class X when Rinku Singh had begun playing professional cricket and quickly went up the ranks from his domestic team to his state team.

Soon after making his first-class debut in the 2016-17 season, Rinku Singh immediately fetched an IPL contract with KXIP on his base price of 10 lakh.

However, with the IPL 2018 being a mega auction, Rinku Singh then found his new franchise and was bagged by KKR for a salary of 80 Lakh.

His stint with the KKR squad also then made him emerge as the highest run-scorer of his state team in the 2018-19 Ranji season which later made KKR retain him in the next IPL.

All in all, Rinku Singh’s grit and determination to play cricket despite enduring some massive roadblocks is a fitting inspiration for players who desire to pursue the game as a living.