IPL 2018: Grits and guts of Anukul Roy makes him one to watch out for this season

Young left arm spinner Anukul Roy has been through a lot in such short span of time. His story is yet another inspiring tale of an aspiring cricketer. He has seen a rapid rise from playing tennis ball cricket in the streets of Samastipur to being a part of the India U19 side. He finished as the joint leading wicket taker in the ICC U19 World Cup this year, which team India eventually ended up winning.

Good performances in the tournament fetched an IPL deal for Anukul Roy. He was bought by the Mumbai Indians for INR 20 Lakh. Anukul will get some guidance from Krunal Pandya at the MI camp for sure. As per the recent quotes in CricketNext, his father remarked that the journey has actually been quite tough for Anukul and his family. He noted that they had to send him away from the family so that he could get better training facility. Now, they are happy to see him grow and wish to see him don the Indian jersey in the future.

“We used to live in the village and while he played from as early as I can remember, we took him seriously when as a 7-year-old kid he played better than most kids of his age. That is when we decided to take him to Jamshedpur and keep him there so that he gets the right infrastructure and training,” Sudhakar, father of Anukul Roy, quoted.

“But it is never easy to keep your son away from you. While he stayed as a paying guest, it was us who suffered every moment as we missed seeing him around. But luckily for us, the struggles have paid dividend and hopefully we will see him represent the country in the senior team,” he added further.

Under the watchful eyes of the master

It is worth noting that Anukul Roy has groomed under the watchful eyes of Chanchal Bhattacharya, the childhood coach of MS Dhoni. Bhattarcharya pointed out that the turning point in the career of Anukul Roy was the tour of England in 2017. During the tour, Anukul kept bowling despite an injury to his ankle. When the physio insisted a lot, he went for the checkups that revealed the injury. Bhattacharya was amazed to see the guts and determination of a young kid who just wants to play the game.

“It was amazing to see such a young kid put the game and his team ahead of his own injury. That is when I realised that this kid is special and will go to any length to finish on top. There are boys who play just to be a part of action and then there are boys who walk onto the field to win. Roy goes out to win,” Bhattacharya quoted.

“I have not just seen him train as a kid, but have also umpired in a few matches that he played in and the first thing that comes across is the willingness to battle it out. Scars are his pride and not his weakness. This kid will go the distance if he can keep his head in the right place,” he added.

The injury kept Anukul out of a lot of cricketing action. He also missed the U19 Challenger Series, which was set as the base for the selection of the Indian side for the U19 World Cup. His family members believed that Anukul might miss the berth. But he was positive about his chances. Also, being in the good books of the U19 coach Rahul Dravid proved his case to be a healthy one for selection.

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