Kumar Kushagra

Some Lesser Known Facts About Kumar Kushagra

• Kumar Kushagra started taking training in cricket at the age of 6.

• He started playing cricket as a batsman, but later, he got influenced by the wicket-keeping techniques of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and eventually took up wicket-keeping as a profession.

• In an interview, he revealed that his father had a deep interest in cricket and encouraged him to become a cricketer.

• Though, his father didn’t have any formal training in cricket, he read several books on cricket to guide Kumar various batting techniques. While taking about it in an interview, he said,
  

  Everything that the greats have written, be it Lewis, Bradman or Waugh, I got it somehow. I would go and watch people at the nets and try to figure out the techniques and then get back and read what the books had to say about the same. There were at least 60-70 shots and techniques that I made a list of. Each day, I would make Kumar practice one of them.”

• In the 2014-15 season, he played for Bokaro in Inter District Under-14 (Elite Group).

  

• In an interview, he revealed that he used to receive training in cricket twice a day. He said that initially, his training sessions were from 3 to 6 in the evening, but due to overcrowding in the academy, he couldn’t get enough batting time. Therefore, he started waking up at five in the morning to practice before school.

• He has also received training at the National Cricket Academy (NCA), Bengaluru.

• In 2016, he played for Jharkhand in the Vijay Merchant Trophy.

• He came to limelight after he played for Jharkhand in Under-19 team in Vinoo Mankad Trophy. He scored 535 runs in 7 matches and became the highest run-getter in the tournament.

• His outstanding performance in Vinoo Mankad Trophy 2019, led his selection in India’s squad for the 2020 Under-19 Cricket World Cup, at the age of 15. He played only one match in the World Cup and scored an unbeaten 13 off 11 deliveries against Japan and help India chase a target of 42, winning by 10 wickets.

  

• He played his first List A match on 20 February 2021, representing Jharkhand in the 2020–21 Vijay Hazare Trophy.

• On 4 November 2021, he played his first Twenty20 match, representing Jharkhand in the 2021–22 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. In the tournament, he smashed 111 runs in six matches.

• The cricketer made his first-class debut with 2021-22 Ranji Trophy, where he played for Jharkhand. In the preliminary quarter-final match of the tournament, he made his maiden century in first-class cricket.

• At the age of 17, he broke the 47 years record set by the Pakistani cricketer Javed Miandad in 1975, by scoring 266 runs in the 2021-22 Ranji Trophy against Nagaland.

• In an interview, he revealed that he was also got selected for the Jharkhand squad in 2020-21 Ranji Trophy, but he had to skip it for attending a pre-tournament camp for the 2020 U-19 World Cup.

• In the Vijay Hazare Trophy seasons of 2022-23 and 2023-24, he showcased his performance as a top-order batsman by scoring 275 and 164 runs respectively.

• In the 2023 Deodhar Trophy, Kushagra stood out as the sixth-highest run-scorer, scoring a total of 227 runs in five innings with an impressive strike rate of 109.13. His significant contributions included a half-century for East Zone in the final, even though they ended up losing to South Zone.

• As of 2023, Kushgra has played 11 T20s in which he has scored 140 at a strike rate of 117.64.

• During the IPL 2024 auctions in Dubai, the Delhi Capitals acquired him for Rs. 7.2 crore.

  

• In an interview, he revealed that before getting selected by the team Delhi Capitals, he was informed by Sourav Ganguly that the team was interested in adding him to their squad.

• He is often compared to the Indian cricketer MS Dhoni by his fans.