Kumar Kartikeya, cricket’s proverbial journeyman, propels MP to semifinals

Left-arm spinner Kumar Kartikeya exorcised his demons – the ones life had created for him — taking a six-wicket haul to help Madhya Pradesh reger an emphatic win 10 wickets against Punjab on the fourth day of their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal match.
Kartikeya (6 for 50) had a big say in Punjab’s second innings, scalping six wickets for 50 runs. On Day 3, the 24-year-old accounted for the vital wickets of Punjab skipper Abhishek Sharma (17), Shubman Gill (19), Mandeep Singh (17), Gurkeerat Singh Mann (10), Anmol Malhotra (34), and Sanvir Singh (0) to single-handedly demolish Punjab’s batting line-up in their second essay.
Kartikeya’s bowling throughout the match was praiseworthy. He got turn and bounce from an otherwise docile pitch and showcased appreciable control, while flighting the ball. At times, it seemed there was a string attached to the ball when Kartikeya flighted it as batsmen were lured into playing a big hit.
Punjab in their second innings, were bowled out for 203. With 26 needed to win, Himanshu Mantri (9 not out) and Yash Dubey (17 not out) made sure that MP reached home in style.Best of Express PremiumPremiumPremiumPremiumPremium
Kartikeya made his IPL debut for Mumbai Indians and surprised everyone with his variety. He bowled left-arm wr-spin, wrong’uns, finger spin and even the carrom ball. Kartikeya’s coach Sanjay Bharadwaj, who has trained the likes of Gautam Gambhir, Amit Mishra, Joginder Sharma and Unmukt Chand, calls him a cricketer of this new era.
“Cricket has changed a lot. Now if you won’t improvise, you are not going to survive. He was a natural finger spinner but before going to the trials of the various IPL teams, he learnt the art of wr spin, and went on to master it in five to six months,” Bharadwaj told the Indian Express.

Struggles as a teen
Bharadwaj still remembers when a 15-year-old Kartikeya came to his academy in Delhi, accompanied one of his pupils, Radhesyham.
“I never knew his family background. He was playing in Kanpur and was not getting games. People were asking for money to let him play cricket. Radheshyam told me, sir, he can’t pay your fees. I specifically told him not to worry about that and just bowl. He bowled one or two balls, and I was astonished. At that age, the amount of drift he was generating was amazing; action was so smooth,” recalled Bharadwaj.
With coaching taken care of, now Kartikeya had to find a job to stay afloat in the national capital. So he picked up a labourer’s job in a factory in Masuri, a village next to Ghaziabad. He would take the night shift, and in the morning, he rush to the academy, which was about 80 km from the factory. His meal would be one packet of biscuits; sometimes, even training on an empty stomach.
A year later, Bharadwaj got to know about Kartikeya’s struggle and offered him a stay at the academy.
“Mujhe koi idea nahi tha ki wo labour ka kaam kar raha aur itni duur se aata hai. Kisi academy ke bacche ne hi bataya mujhe. (I had no clue that he is working as labour, someone from the academy told me about his struggle),” said Bharadwaj.
Bharadwaj vividly remembers Kartikeya’s first day at the academy.
“When the cook gave him food, he started crying. He told me ‘sir ek saal se lunch nahi kiya hai’ (Sir I hadn’t eaten lunch for a year),’ Bharadwaj said.
Kartikeya exorcised his demons – the ones life had created for him — taking a six-wicket haul to help Madhya Pradesh reger an emphatic win 10 wickets against Punjab. (Express Photo)
Next year, Kartikeya became the top wicket-taker in Delhi’s prestigious Omnath Sood Tournament. But he was ignored the DDCA.
“He was not even picked for the trials,” said Bharadwaj.
Bharadwaj would call his good friend Ajay Dwivedi, President of Shahdol Cricket Association in Madhya Pradesh.
“In early 2018, I sent him to Shahdol. He first represented Madhya Pradesh in the U-23, and the end of the year, he made his Ranji Trophy debut for Madhya Pradesh,” said Bharadwaj.
Delhi’s loss has undoubtedly turned out to be Madhya Pradesh’s gain. Since then, he has become an important player for Madhya Pradesh and his coach feels he will get to play a lot of games for his franchise in the IPL as well.
“Aap dekhna next IPL season saare games khelega Mumbai Indians ke liye (He will play most of the games for Mumbai Indians in the nest IPL season,” said Bharadwaj.
When asked what the secret of Kartikeya’s sucess is, the coach replied: “Let me tell you a story of how he learned to bowl wr spin. I live in the outskirts of Bhopal, and once his camp in Indore got over, he came to my academy. He said ‘sir nayaa kuchh karna hoga bowling mey (Sir, i will have to bring some variety in my bowling).
“At 12 at night, he knocked on my door and said, ‘neend nahi aa rahi lights on kar ke wr spin ki practice karta hun (I am not able to sleep. I am going to switch on the lights and will try bowling wr spin). So from that day, he would practice wr spin bowling every night for at least two hours, and that’s how he mastered it,” Bharadwaj signed off.
Brief Scores:
Punjab: 219 & 203 (Anmol Malhotra 34, Anmolpreet Singh 31; Kumar Kartikeya 6/50, Saransh Jain 4/100) vs Madhya Pradesh 397 & 26 for 0