Mother's cancer battle and Dale Steyn inspire Tushar Deshpande to do better

The 2018-19 edition of the Ranji Trophy is currently underway with quite a few matches taking place simultaneously. Mumbai, the event’s most successful team, is playing their match against Railways at Karnail Singh Stadium in New Delhi. One of their fast bowlers- Tushar Deshpande- has been stupendous, to say the least with a spell of 24.2-7-70-6.

His spell helped Mumbai garner a massive first-innings lead of 104 runs after bowling their opponents out for 307 in 104.2 overs. Deshpande made his first-class debut back in the 2016-17 season, but couldn’t take part in the next season owing to an ankle fracture. He made an impressive comeback in Mumbai’s victorious campaign in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.

Mentally, I was a bit disturbed

The 23-year-old picked up 15 wickets in eight matches as Mumbai won the championship after 12 long years. Recently, the youngster talked about the difficult times during his ankle injury. In the meantime, Deshpande also named South African fast bowler Dale Steyn as his inspiration. Moreover, he aims to increase his pace as his career progresses.

“Dealing with the injury gave me a very tough time. I kept watching videos of Dale Steyn [legendary SA pacer] because he is an inspiration for me. My family and friends supported me a lot and that helped me stay positive. My only aim was to bowl quicker than before the injury,” Deshpande was quoted as saying in Mid Day.

Furthermore, the speedster mentioned how he was mentally shattered when his mother was suffering from cancer. “Mentally, I was a bit disturbed as my mother was suffering from ovarian cancer. But her willpower to fight that disease also motivated me. She is recovering quite well now,” he added.

Mumbai have won the Ranji Trophy as many as 41 times. However, they haven’t won the trophy for the last couple of seasons. Deshpande’s role with the leather in hand is expected to play a vital role as Mumbai would be looking to reaffirm their dominance.

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