MI’s newest boombox Ashwani Kumar: Started with Rs 30 for share autos, bowled pace with ordinary canvas shoes and developed quick-arm action

Harkesh, who owns one and a half acre land in the village, could not control his tears along with his wife Meena Rani and elder son Shiv Rana.

“Rain or hot sun, Ashwani would never hesitate to go to PCA at Mohali or later at the new stadium at Mullanpur. Sometimes, he would cycle to PCA academy or take lifts or would go in shared autos. I remember he would take Rs 30 from me for the fare and when he was picked up for Rs 30 lakh by Mumbai Indians in the mega auction, I knew his worth was every penny. After each wicket today, I would think about those days when he would return at 10 pm after his training and again wake up the next day at 5 am to head hack” recalls the father while speaking with The Indian Express.

Harkesh Kumar Rana, father of cricketer Ashwani Kumar Rana, along with his wife Meena, son Shiv Rana, relatives, and Ashwani’s friends, proudly display Ashwani’s cycle and trophy in a joyful celebration at their residence in Jhanjhari village, Mohali after Ashwani took 4 wickets, , on Monday. (Express Photo/Jasbir Malhi)

As Ashwani’s friends Dr Jaspreet Soni, Dr Baljinder Singh and Mohit Rana along with 20 other youths started preparing to bring crackers to celebrate their friend’s overnight success, Soni was quick to point towards the Government Senior Secondary School at the village. It was in 2014 that a young Ashwani started playing cricket at the ground along with his friend Aman Thakur. The youngster, who would play alongside Abhishek Sharma, Ramandeep Singh and Arshdeep Singh at the PCA Academy in his initial years, would make his Ranji debut for Punjab in 2019.

“Ashwani would tell me and other youth of the village to reach early in the morning at the school ground no matter what and most of us would bat against him at the school ground,” shares elder brother Shiv Rana. “Sometimes, he would go to other cricket grounds near the village to play for local teams and would again call us in the evening to play. He would bowl pace wearing normal canvas shoes and friends like Chahat Rana, who is now in Italy, and others would support him with cricket balls and spikes. His passion was to play cricket and make us proud and today he has done that for all of us,” he adds.

Mohali Cricket Association coach Harwinder Baidwan had first seen Ashwani in 2016 at the MCA Ground near PCA Stadium. Baidwan remembers how Ashwani being a left-arm bowler helped his case among the 200 odd trainees at the ground. “We as coaches always want boys with good physique for pace bowlers and Ashwani always had it. We worked on his landing foot and front running technique and he would bowl good bouncers as well short balls with time. He would also swing the ball with seam movement which worked to his advantage at a young age. Once he was hit for 20 runs in the last over in an Inter-District match but then he returned to nets the same evening and tried his slow ones and yorkers. His quick bouncer always worked for him too,” shares Baidwan.

At the PCA Academy Ashwani trained under coaches Dinesh, Sumit Ohri and also former Indian international pacer VRV Singh. The youngster was also part of the BRV Blasters team which won the Sher-E-Punjab T20 Cup in 2023 apart from being part of the BRV Blasters team last year. “When he joined to train under the PCA Academy he had a strong physique like other village kids. He picked up bowling and he has a smooth bowling action. Both his arms would come at right angles during loading of the ball and he had a quick arm action. His height was short but his arm action generated the pace from the ball. He would also get to train under Harwinder Singh paji and he also spent some time under him,” remembers PCA academy coach Dinesh.

Ashwani was also part of the BRV Blasters team which won the Sher-E-Punjab T20 Cup in 2023 apart from being part of the BRV Blasters team last year. (Express Photo/Jasbir Malhi)

In the two editions of Sher-E-Punjab Cup, Kumar picked up 13 wickets and was trained by former India international VRV Singh. “VRV Singh spotted his pace mind and worked on making him understand the technicalities of fast bowling. While Harwinder Singh oversees the overall programme, VRV would help Ashwani mould his bowling action and things like utilising the pace off the pitch,” says PCA secretary Dilsher Khanna.

Kumar had also appeared at trials for Chennai Super Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals. Back in 2020, Kumar had suffered from tennis elbow and stayed away from the game for more than a year. “We worked on his inswing as his balls would outswing earlier. We also worked on his yorkers and he would bowl to Indian player Ramandeep Singh in the open nets here at Mohali,” says coach Varinder Singh, who is also director cricket operations, District Cricket Association, Mohali.

“He attended trials for IPL sides but he always wanted to be like Jasprit Bumrah and Mitchell Starc. His friends would pool money to get him cricket balls and when he was picked up by Mumbai Indians for Rs 30 lakh, the first thing he did was to get cricket kits and balls distributed in the academies near our village. He always used to tell me that his favourite jersey would be to wear a jersey which has his own name. and with today’s performance, he has made sure that kids will wear his name jersey,” says elder brother Shiv Rana.

Debut straight out of a storybook 📖

The perfect first chapter for Ashwani Kumar 👌👌

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Mother Meena Kumari knows what Ashwani will ask on his return. “He likes besan ka chilla and aloo parathas. He would be wanting that in Mumbai today,” laughed the proud mother as she joined in bursting crackers.

After winning the Man of the Match award, the not-too-nervous IPL debutant would walk towards commentator Harsha Bhogle for a chat. He would talk about the early nervousness that he would overcome as soon as he got the ball in hand. Bhogle would ask Ashwani to look in the camera and speak to family and friends back home. The confident young pacer, without blinking an eyelid, would do so. “Jab bhi game mila, mai mere gaon walon ko proud karvaunga (Whenever I get a game, I will make my village proud). Bhogle would nudge him to speak in his mother tongue. Ashwani would repeat the same in Punjabi but this time his voice had a lot more feel.