New Delhi, April 10: After being the star of the IPL ecosystem by scoring an unbeaten 54 to help Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) win by three wickets against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), wicketkeeper-batter Mukul Choudhary revealed that his father gave up his preparation for the Rajasthan Administrative Service (RAS) to ensure that he would become a cricketer.
At Eden Gardens, Choudhary scored an unbeaten 54 off 27 balls, with seven sixes and two fours, and led LSG to a thrilling victory after they had been reduced to 128/7 and appeared to be out of contention. Interestingly, Choudhary had also achieved an improbable chase for Rajasthan against Delhi in the 2025/26 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
"It was my father's dream to play cricket at a high level. We come from a very poor family, and he wanted someone from our family to play cricket. Nowadays, there is a lot of money and fame in cricket. Cricket is his favorite sport, but our family situation did not allow him to play cricket professionally.
"He had already made up his mind, even before he got married, that when he had a son, he would make him play cricket. When I was young, our family situation was not strong, and it was not possible for him to get me enrolled in a cricket academy.
"At that time, he was also teaching at a college and preparing for RAS, then he realized that either he could prepare for the Rajasthan Administrative Service or he could make me play cricket professionally.
"So, he gave up his preparation for the Rajasthan Administrative Service (RAS), did some property work, earned some money, and when I turned 12, he enrolled me in the SBS Cricket Academy in Sikar city for the first time," said Choudhary to JioHotstar.
Choudhary, who now trains at the Aravali Cricket Club in Jaipur, also spoke about the difficulty of finding the right training ground in a state with limited cricketing infrastructure.
"The challenge was that I didn't know anything about cricket before I started playing at a professional level. I had no cricket connection in my family. Nobody from our area was a cricket player. I didn't know anything about the sport.
"I remember in 2015, it was my birthday, and my father and I left in the morning to search for an academy. There were three districts nearby – Churu, Jhunjhunu, and Sikar. We were looking for an academy in those three districts. At that time, the SBS Cricket Academy in Sikar had just opened.
"We saw it there and decided to enroll in that academy. It was a new academy, and the people running the academy were very passionate about cricket. So, we found the right place to start my cricket journey," he elaborated.
Looking ahead to his future games in IPL 2026, with LSG set to play against Gujarat Titans in Lucknow on Sunday afternoon, Choudhary said he aims to finish matches like former India captain MS Dhoni.
"I always look up to MS Dhoni because I am also a finisher. I always admire him. His helicopter shot, which is very iconic, is my favorite. The way he led India in the 2011 World Cup, everyone remembers it. I want to be like him and finish off matches and help my team win," he said.