Kumar Kushagra Wiki, Height, Age, Family, Biography & More

Kumar Kushagra is an Indian cricketer who gained attention when the Delhi Capitals selected him for Rs. 7.2 crore during the IPL 2024 auctions in Dubai.

Wiki/Biography

Kumar Kushagra was born on Saturday, 23 October 2004 (age 19 years; as of 2023) in Ramnagar, Bokaro, Jharkhand. His zodiac sign is Libra. He did his schooling at Loyola School, Jamshedpur. She is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in arts at Kolhan University, Jamshedpur. ^[1]Mashal News – YouTube At the age of 2-3, his father would take him to sports academies. Although he couldn’t formally enrol due to his young age, his father motivated him to observe and learn from the actions of other players.

Physical Appearance

Height (approx.): 5′ 6″

Hair Colour: Black

Eye Colour: Grey

Family

Parents & Siblings

Kushagra’s father’s name is Shashikant, who worked as district commissioner in the GST department.

His mother’s name is Pushpa Devi, who is a homemaker.

He has a younger brother, Kalash, and a younger sister, Sara.

Career

She has not yet made her international debut. He started playing cricket at the Bokaro Cricket Coaching Academy, where he trained at the nearby hostel. In the 2014-15 season, he became a part of the Bokaro District Under-14 team. At the age of 12, his life changed significantly as he was chosen for the Jharkhand Under-16s. From then on, cricket became his primary focus. He made a notable entry into cricket with the 2016 Vinoo Mankad Trophy. In 2019, Kushagra caught the selectors’ eye for the India U19s due to his remarkable performance in the U19 Vinoo Mankad Trophy. He emerged as the top run-scorer in the tournament, scoring 535 runs in 7 matches, even though Jharkhand did not reach the final. He got picked for the Indian team in the 2020 U-19 World Cup.

At just 15 years old, Kushagra was the youngest among the players who made it to the final, where they narrowly lost to Bangladesh. He played a crucial role in a match against Japan, scoring an unbeaten 13 off 11 deliveries, helping India chase a target of 42 and winning by 10 wickets. On 20 February 2021, he made his debut in List A cricket, playing for Jharkhand in the 2020–21 Vijay Hazare Trophy. On 4 November 2021, he made his debut in Twenty20 cricket, playing for Jharkhand in the 2021–22 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. During the tournament, he scored 111 runs in six matches for Jharkhand. On 24 February 2022, he made his debut in first-class cricket, playing for Jharkhand in the 2021–22 Ranji Trophy. Despite being chosen for the Jharkhand squad in the earlier season, he had to miss it because of participating in a pre-tournament camp for the 2020 U-19 World Cup. When he was 17, he made a remarkable double hundred against Nagaland in the pre-quarterfinal of the Ranji Trophy in 2022. This accomplishment marked him as the youngest batsman to score 250 or more runs in a first-class inning, surpassing the longstanding record set by Javed Miandad. In the 2022 Deodhar Trophy, Kushagra made an impact as the sixth-highest run-scorer, achieving a total of 227 runs in five innings with a notable strike rate of 109.13. He played a crucial role, scoring a half-century for East Zone in the final, despite their loss to South Zone. It was during this match that he first learned about Delhi Capitals’ interest in him. A commentator conveyed a message from Sourav Ganguly, the team director of the franchise. In the Vijay Hazare Trophy seasons of 2022-23 and 2023-24, he demonstrated his skills as a top-order batsman, scoring 275 and 164 runs respectively. In the IPL 2024 auctions held in Dubai, the Delhi Capitals picked him for Rs. 7.2 crore.

Facts/Trivia

• His jersey number is # 1 (India).

• His domestic team is Jharkhand.

• He is a right-hand batsman.

• Initially, he played as a batsman. But after observing MS Dhoni and being intrigued by his distinctive wicket-keeping technique, he decided to incorporate it during a game. This choice led him to pursue wicket-keeping as a profession.

• In middle school, he was a dedicated student who concentrated on his studies.

• When he was a kid, a significant part of his training routine included sessions with his father. His father applied coaching principles from the well-known book ‘The Art and Science of Cricket’ by the legendary Bob Woolmer.

• In an interview, he mentioned that they had limited practice time. The training sessions, held from 3 to 6 in the evening, were so busy that he couldn’t get sufficient batting practice. Consequently, his father began waking him up at 5 in the morning, and they practised until 7 before he went to school.

• Even though his father didn’t receive formal cricket training, he guided Kushagra by reading cricket books. His father’s collection included not only Bob Woolmer’s book but also the NCA books, which provided technical guidance for batting techniques. In an interview, his father talked about this and said,
  

  Everything that the greats have written, be it Lewis, Bradman or Waugh, I got it somehow. I would go and watch people at the nets and try to figure out the techniques and then get back and read what the books had to say about the same. There were at least 60-70 shots and techniques that I made a list of. Each day, I would make Kumar practice one of them.”

• The state association declined to release him from the team since the domestic season was starting soon. That’s when Ganguly directly got in touch with the young player. In an interview, he talked about this and said,
  

  Sourav sir called me personally. He said that Delhi Capitals are looking at me for their squad. He praised my performances over the past two years and wanted to see me play. I participated in a camp in Gurugram and did well in a trial match. I played in another camp in Bengaluru, scoring 60-odd runs in 25 balls. In Kolkata, I scored 60-odd runs again, this time in 23 balls.”

• Right after being chosen by the Delhi Capitals, he called his mother, and they both became emotional and shed tears. In an interview, he talked about the auction and said,
  

  I was alone in my room that time. I had finished my practice early, returned straight to my room, took out my mobile, and started following the auction. That was because the TV in my room was not working. My name was in the 55th position. The moment it was supposed to be announced, they took a break. I hadn’t eaten anything, and it must have been 6 or 6:30 in the evening by then. I was pretty annoyed! But then, my name eventually came. Chennai Super Kings started the bidding, and they went to INR 60 lakh. I started receiving so many calls back-to-back. I must have received at least 15 calls, I think. And I was watching the auction on my phone, so I kept dismissing them and the streaming kept getting paused. I couldn’t follow it properly; the next thing I saw, the bidding reached INR 7.20 crore.”

• As of 2023, Kushagra has participated in 11 T20 matches, amassing 140 runs at a strike rate of 117.64.

• He was likened to the Indian cricketer MS Dhoni, well-known for his outstanding contributions to Indian cricket.