Bhuvneshwar Kumar Reveals How he Convinced his Parents to Enroll Him Into a Cricket Academy

Bhuvneshwar Kumar was destined to play cricket. He marked his arrival when he castled Sachin Tendulkar for his first first-class duck in Indian domestic cricket at the age of just 19.

Bhuvneshwar’s arrival in international cricket was even better. In his first international over, he bowled Nasir Jamshed. On his first ODI delivery, he bowled Mohammad Hafeez. And in his first Test series, he played a part in India’s first whitewash of a four-Test series against Australia.

The Journey was not soothing – Bhuvneshwar

However, the start of his cricketing career was not as smooth as his journey later. Just like most of the young boys in this cricket-obsessed nation, Bhuvneshwar also had the dream of playing the game.

Hailing from Meerut, which did not have a great reputation of producing prominent cricketers, Bhuvneshwar had the odds stacked against him. What made things more challenging was his parents remaining unaware of Bhuvneshwar’s dream. With time running out, Bhuvneshwar took the matters in his own hands.

In a chat show with Gaurav Kapur on his web show ‘Breakfast with Champions’, the India star revealed how he convinced his parents to enrol him into a cricket academy.

“During my summer vacations,  I told them I want to play cricket. They said,’ so go to play in the park’.  I didn’t know what to say.  I said ‘no, no,  I want to play in the stadium’. They found that unusual. I said that I wanted to practise at the academy for two months.  I cried and pleaded with them and did all the antics you do as a child. One day I said ‘ If you don’t send me,  I’ll go on my own.’ Then my mother thought rather than him becoming naughty why don’t we just send him’,” he revealed.

“I started training in my vacations, and that’s how it all began,” he added.

Bhuvneshwar is now an integral part of the team across all the three formats. So far, he has represented India in 21 Tests, 86 ODIs and 26 T20Is, picking up more than 180 wickets.