It was surreal feeling when Virat hugged me after my maiden Test wicket: Mukesh Kumar

India’s captain Rohit Sharma celebrates with bowler Mukesh Kumar the dismissal LBW of West Indies’ Alick Athanaze on day three of their second cricket Test match at Queen’s Park in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago on July 23, 2023.
| Photo Credit: AP

Having watched Virat Kohli’s on-field exploits with awe all these years, it was a surreal feeling for Mukesh Kumar when the former Indian captain rushed to hug him after the Bengal seamer got his maiden Test wicket.

Making his Test debut a few months before his 30th birthday, the man from Bihar’s Gopalganj is a late bloomer and has had to come up the ranks proving his mettle right from Bengal U-23 to India A in last seven years.

“When I got the wicket, Virat bhaiya ran up and hugged me. I was in a different world. The man I have watched all these years on TV and looked up to is hugging you. It felt great,” a beaming Mukesh told his senior pace bowling partner [younger in age though] Mohammed Siraj in an interaction for BCCI.TV.

Mukesh had an impressive debut on a flat lifeless deck with figures of 18-6-48-2 to show for his efforts.

“When you [Siraj] and JD [Unadkat] bhai were bowling, Rohit bhai said ‘it’s not a pitch where you can get wickets instantly. You need to work hard’. I had to set up the batter with consistent bowling,” said Mukesh, who was picked by former Bengal seamer Ranadeb Bose, during an open trial back in 2013-14 season under the ambitious ‘Vision2020’ project.

Although he was mentally ready, having gone through the paces in the nets, the moment he was told at the team meeting a day before, it took some time to sink in.

“When I came to know that I will be playing, I was shocked and actually completely zoned out. Whether I play or not, I am always prepared, so I went to attend the team meeting, keeping in mind that I need to follow my process. But there was some gut feel that I might play.”

His mother was emotional and all those associated in this journey were very happy.

“So when it’s morning over here, it’s evening in India. So by evening, when I reached hotel, I spoke to my mom, that’s a special feeling that ‘Maa main desh ke liye khel raha hoon [Mom, I am playing for the country]. All my relatives and all those who supported me from start are happy,” he told Siraj.