NEW DELHI: When Mukul Choudhary packed his bags and headed home after IPL 2026, he carried with him a deep sense of satisfaction. There was the joy of a memorable debut season, highlighted by his six-hitting blitz against Kolkata Knight Riders that helped Lucknow Super Giants pull off a stunning heist.There was the experience of sharing a dressing room with stars he had only watched on television while growing up. And there were invaluable lessons that helped him better understand his game. But above all, one thing stood out.The biggest satisfaction for Mukul was knowing that he would finally be able to ease his family’s financial burden by repaying the bank loan they had taken years ago to build a house.After impressing in domestic cricket, Mukul was picked up by Lucknow Super Giants for Rs 2.60 crore at the IPL auction. Now, with his maiden IPL season behind him and the paycheck secured, the youngster is set to return home and help clear a debt that his family has been carrying for years.“My father was a teacher before all this. Then we sold our house. My grandfather, who had retired from the Army, helped us with some money. We also borrowed from my uncle. With that, we bought a piece of land and later took a bank loan to build a hotel on it. For a long time, we lived in rented accommodation. Ever since I started playing cricket, our family has been moving from one rented house to another,” Mukul told TimesofIndia.com in an exclusive interview.“Ab sab chuk jayega [Now all those debts will be cleared]. I am happy that I could do this for my family. All thanks to IPL and LSG.”
First IPL six, a memory foreverMukul still gets goosebumps when he thinks about that IPL night at Eden Gardens.Facing KKR, the youngster played one of the knocks of the season, smashing 57 off just 27 balls with seven towering sixes to pull off a stunning chase for Lucknow Super Giants. After sealing the win, Mukul stood in the middle of the ground with folded hands, head tilted towards the sky, soaking in the moment.“A lot has changed in T20 cricket. For one, the Impact Player rule has come in. Earlier, batters were expected to build long innings and stay at the crease. Now teams have two all-rounders and batting extends all the way down to No. 9. The mindset has changed – as soon as you walk in, you’re expected to attack,” he said.“Earlier, one coach at an academy would work with 20 or 30 children. Today, an entire support system is built around a talented player from a very young age. Look at Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, his father travelled with him everywhere while he was growing up. Having a mentor and specialised coaches has become extremely important.Players now have personalised training programmes, book grounds for individual practice and receive far more focused attention. All of that has changed the game significantly,” he explained.
For Mukul, IPL was always much more than just another tournament.“The IPL is a massive platform for someone like me. I feel fortunate to have got this opportunity. Every cricketer’s first dream is to play for India, and the IPL opens that pathway. I never imagined so many things would happen so quickly. My family was overjoyed as well. Everything that followed was completely unexpected.”The hard work behind the successLong before the IPL spotlight, Mukul spent countless hours chasing his dream. He travelled relentlessly between Gurgaon and Bharatpur (his residence) to play matches and improve his game, often spending entire nights on buses before turning up to bat the next day.“I trained extensively in Gurugram as well. There were days when I would catch an overnight bus, reach Bharatpur in the morning, play a match there, travel back through the night and then play another match in Gurugram the very next day. For two to three months, my entire focus was on cricket,” Mukul said.“My brother stayed with me throughout that period. He looked after my diet and daily routine while also continuing his own studies. He helped me immensely. I wouldn’t call it a struggle, but it certainly required a lot of hard work. The goal was always to take my game to the next level,” he added.The sacrifices paid off. After impressing in age-group cricket, Mukul scored 173 runs in five innings during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025-26 at a strike rate of 198.85, earning an IPL contract with LSG.“Even before my dad got married, it was his dream that his son would play cricket. Financial condition was not very good at the start. But my father and mother did all to support me. My brother was always with me, took care of me and helped me in chasing my dreams.”Learning from Pant, Marsh and PooranThe IPL wasn’t just about performances. It was also a crash course in handling pressure and understanding match situations.
“I learned a great deal from my time there. The one thing everyone kept telling me was to stay positive, whether it was handling pressure situations or adapting my batting to the demands of the match.“Mitchell Marsh would often tell me, ‘Bat as deep into the innings as you can. If you’re still there, you can win matches for your team. There’s no point throwing your wicket away in a hurry.’ I also learned a lot from Aiden Markram and Nicholas Pooran. And yes, I spent a lot of time working on my six-hitting as well,” he said”The biggest influence, however, was skipper Rishabh Pant.The biggest support for me was the trust Pant Bhaiya showed in me. He would always say, ‘Brother, we trust you, so you need to trust yourself too. You’re here because you’re good enough to be here. You haven’t reached this level by accident, you’ve done something special to earn this opportunity. So back yourself and believe in your ability.’ His faith in me gave me a lot of confidence,” he said.Bigger plans aheadMukul finished IPL 2026 with 170 runs from 10 matches at a strike rate of 141.66, including 12 sixes. Despite LSG enduring a disappointing campaign and becoming the first team eliminated from the tournament, Mukul remains confident about the future.“All I would like to say is that we couldn’t perform as well this season as they had hoped. But we’ll make sure we don’t fall short next time. We’ll come back stronger and do much better.”“I learned a tremendous amount from this IPL. The tournament taught me a lot, and I’ve already started thinking about what I want to improve before next season. In a few days, I’ll begin preparing again,” he signed off.
