Who Is Ramesh Kumar, 'Tennis-Ball' Sensation And Punjab's 'Narine', Signed By KKR
KKR's Ramesh Kumar is already a popular YouTube star and is known for six-hitting ability. Now it has to be seen whether Ramesh gets a place in KKR's playing XI in IPL 2022 or not.
New Delhi: Kolkata Knight Riders, on day 2 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 Mega Auction, acquired Ramesh Kumar for his base price of INR 20 lakh.
Ramesh Kumar, who hails from Punjab, holds a superstar status in the tennis-ball cricket circles. Ramesh, popularly known as 'Narine Jalalabad', had also given trials to Kolkata Knight Riders before the IPL 2022 auction.
The left-handed batter is already a popular YouTube star and is known for six-hitting ability. Now it has to be seen whether Ramesh gets a place in KKR's playing XI in IPL 2022 or not.
KKR's winning bid of just Rs 20 lakh for Ramesh at the IPL auction was worth crores for the 'tennis-ball sensation'. The hard-hitting batter has now finally convinced his ageing parents to not work anymore.
As per a report in news agency PTI, Ramesh's father works as a cobbler to make a living and his mother travels across villages in Punjab's Fazilka district to sell bangles. Ramesh has finally convinced his parents to end their struggles as now their son can have a future in cricket.
"They have finally agreed to not work anymore. I never wanted them to do this work in the first place but it had to be done out of necessity," Ramesh, who once blasted a 10-ball 50 in a local tournament, told PTI.
He also plans to use the IPL money for the education of his younger brothers.
"Life has not changed yet paaji, life will change when I perform in the IPL. The way I see it, I have finally got the platform I needed," he said.
Ramesh fondly recalls the time he travelled the country for making Rs 500-1000 a day in tennis ball events.
"You must have seen my videos (on youtube) paaji. I am basically a tennis ball player. Since I could turn the ball away and turn back in, people advised me to play to with leather ball. They would say 'you might make it big'.
"But I didn't have the support that I need to pursue the game professionally. I used to play an odd leather ball game but mainly it was all tennis ball cricket.
"It started with me playing all across Punjab. When I performed, I got calls from other states too. Sometimes I made 500 in a day, sometimes it was 1000. It was just about enough to run the house and manage my travel expenses," he said.
Ramesh now feels playing for India is also a possibility though he knows he has a long way to go.
"Paaji I used to bowl with cosco ball which is very light. The leather ball is much heavier and it is harder to make it turn but I am slowly getting better. I am sure the IPL stint will help my game in a big way," he added.
(With PTI Inputs)
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