If father would have been alive, he would be happiest: Mukesh on India call up

“I
got
very
emotional.
It
was
all
a
blur.
I
could
only
remember
my
father
late
Kashi
Nath
Singh’s
face.
My
father
till
I
played
Ranji
Trophy
for
Bengal
didn’t
think
I
am
good
enough
to
do
well
professionally.
Unko
Shaq
thaa
ki
main
kaabil
hoon
bhi
ya
nahi,”
Mukesh
told
PTI
from
Rajkot
where
he
is
playing
for
Rest
of
India.

He
lost
his
father
to
a
brain
stroke
and
it
was
before
the
Ranji
finals.
He
would
train
in
the
morning
and
then
spent
time
beside
his
father’s
hospital
bed.

“Today
my
mom
had
tears
in
her
eyes.
She
was
so
emotional.
Everyone
at
home
started
crying,”
said
the
man
from
Gopalganj
district
in
Bihar,
who
had
appeared
for
CRPF
exams
thrice
after
his
graduation
as
his
father
wanted
him
to
get
a
government
job.

Well,
not
CRPF,
but
Mukesh,
being
a
first
class
cricketer
is
now
employed
with
CAG
(Comptroller
and
Auditor
General
office).
He
has
been
Bengal’s
most
consistent
new
ball
bowler
and
the
five
for
in
first
Test
against
New
Zealand
‘A’ and
a
four
for
on
first
day
of
Irani
Cup
really
fast
tracked
his
progress
into
the
Indian
team.

So
will
he
call
it
a
God’s
gift
that
he
is
able
to
move
the
ball
both
ways?
“Aapke
haathon
ki
Kalakari
Bhagwan
ki
den
hai,
lekin
unka
diya
huwa
ashirwad
pe
mehnat
nahi
karoge
toh
kuch
nahi
hoga.
(You
can
have
God’s
gift
but
what
you
do
with
that
is
upto
you),” said
the
28
year
old.

For
him,
a
chance
to
enter
the
Indian
dressing
room
is
an
opportunity
to
learn
as
much
as
possible
—
be
a
sponge
and
soak
it
all
in.
“Life
is
all
about
learning
and
it
never
stops.
My
endeavour
would
be
to
ensure
that
till
I
play
cricket,
I
should
never
stop
learning.”

His
India
A
coach
VVS
Laxman,
who
was
also
his
mentor
in
Bengal
a
few
seasons
back,
gave
him
an
advice
that
worked
wonders
in
recent
games.
“Laxman
sir
told
me
that
Mukesh
whatever
lengths
you
bowl
for
Bengal
and
how
you
set
up
batters,
just
replicate
that
consistently.
I
just
followed
his
instruction,”
he
added.

While
most
of
his
exploits
have
been
in
red
ball
(113*
wickets
in
31*
FC
games),
Mukesh
has
an
economy
rate
of
5.25
in
List
A
where
he
has
17
scalps
from
18
games.
From
Red
SG
Test
to
white
kookaburra,
don’t
you
think
you
would
need
to
adjust?

“Basics
remain
the
same.
Even
with
white
kookaburra,
you
need
to
pitch
it
up
to
top
order
and
with
old
ball
hit
hard
lengths
and
bowl
cutters.”

He
is
one
of
those
rare
cricketers
in
recent
times,
who
has
made
it
to
Indian
white
ball
squad
without
having
an
IPL
deal.
May
be
this
call
up
changes
things
when
next
auction
is
held.
So
will
mom
come
to
watch
you
if
you
make
your
debut?
“Mujhe
ground
se
dekhne
se
zyada
meri
mummy
mujhe
Kamyab
dekhna
Pasand
karenge,”
he
replied.