Mukesh Kumar

With his all-format international debut in the Caribbean in 2023, Mukesh Kumar was among the bowlers next in line after the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami. He is also among the rare breed of bowlers who got his maiden India call-up before playing a single IPL game.

Mukesh was picked by the Cricket Association of Bengal in their trials when he had not even played club cricket. When he had moved from Bihar, his home state, in 2014, he was primarily a tennis-ball cricket player who would get tired easily and the doctors had said he was anemic. He was later also diagnosed with bone edema in his knees but over time he gained considerable strength while working under Ranadeb Bose and Waqar Younis. After a few years of training, fitness regimes, and getting his food and sleep habits right, Mukesh became a vital part of the Bengal pace attack with Akash Deep and Ishan Porel.

Mukesh made an impact on his first-class debut at the age of 22 with a four-for against Haryana that included the big scalp of Virender Sehwag. He became a regular in the Bengal side from the 2018-19 season - when he became much fitter - bagging 22 wickets, the second-most for his team, in five matches. He added another 32 wickets next season, with two five-fors, in Bengal's run to the Ranji Trophy final. His wickets in the semi-final against Karnataka included KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Karun Nair and Manish Pandey.

In the absence of a Ranji season in Covid-19, he continued to pick up wickets with his swing and skiddy bowling in the white-ball formats. In September 2022, he picked up five wickets on his India A debut against New Zealand A on a high-scoring pitch. He then picked up four wickets with the new ball in the Irani Cup and then toured Bangladesh for another A tour to bag a six-for.

He was selected in India's second-string T20I side just after the 2022 T20 World Cup, which didn't result in a debut, but it was in 2023 that he got his maiden IPL deal, with Delhi Capitals for Rs 5.50 crore, and then his debut for India in the three formats within a span of 14 days, the shortest span in which an India player made his debut across formats. Such was his rise that he had played 18 matches for India by the time 2023 ended.