'He's the best guy playing'- Joy Bhattacharjya recalls Waqar Younis's comments on Mukesh Kumar from 2020

With India's T20 World Cup contingent set to miss the upcoming ODI series against South Africa, the BCCI decided to reward a couple of uncapped Indian players for their brilliance in the domestic circuit. Rajat Patidar and Mukesh Kumar were called up to the Indian squad for the first time in their careers, and former Kolkata Knight Riders team director Joy Bhattacharjya shared an intriguing story about the latter, involving Paksitani great Waqar Younis.

Mukesh Kumar got a call-up to the national squad after a prolific season with Bengal in the Ranji Trophy, scalping 20 wickets in nine outings in the 2021-22 season. He was in rip-roaring form for the Rest of India, who triumphed over Saurashtra in the recently held Irani Cup final.

Joy Bhattacharjya shared a story about the pacer's background when he was participating in the 'Vision 2020' campaign. Joy recalled being impressed by the fast bowler on the first day of the trials before he went to leave a mark on Pakistani legend Waqar Younis, who graced the trials on the second day.

“He is an amazing player and the back story is just as fascinating. He is from Gopalganj. His father wanted him to join the Central Reserve Police Force. He tried three times and didn't get in. But the best story was related to being by the director of CAB. Waqar Younis was set to come to Kolkata to have a look at players and there was a pre-trial held just to identify some of the players,” Joy said in his interaction with Cricbuzz ahead of the start of the ODI series.

Waqar did the complete assessment and said, 'This is the only guy...he's the best guy playing.”

Mukesh was so weak that he couldn't even lift 10 kgs: CAB physio

Joy also went on to reveal the poor physique of the bowler before he joined Bengal. He did not have a place to stay, and that is when CAB intervened and took care of the young pacer. He was put on a diet, and eventually, Mukesh grew physically and mentally, taking Bengal to the semi-finals of the Ranji Trophy. 

“Then he gets into the Bengal squad but has nowhere to stay. CAB puts him up in the Eden Gardens. Kamlesh Jain, who incidentally was the CAB physio and is now for the Indian team, said that he was so weak that he couldn't even lift 10 kgs. So they put him on a diet and a year later he bowls to put Bengal into the Ranji Trophy final. So not only does a player need luck, it takes a village to build a player.”