'My dad watched the match on the projector'- Kumar Kartikeya recalls heartwarming conversation with father before MI debut

Mumbai Indians might have been knocked out from the IPL 2022 but, they did manage to find some exceptional cricketing talents in the ongoing season with Kumar Kartikeya being one of them. Kartikeya got his first game against the Rajasthan Royals a couple of weeks ago where he bowled an economical spell and also took the key wicket of skipper Sanju Samson as MI eventually went on to register their first win of the season.

Lately, the emerging spinner revealed how his father Shyam Math Singh celebrated his first wicket with the entire police battalion. The 24-year-old’s father is in the police force. Explaining further, he added that when he told his father about his MI debut, he passed on this news to the battalion who made necessary arrangements for watching the contest and also gave him a standing ovation.

I told my father that I was going to play this match: Kumar Kartikeya

“I told my father that I was going to play this match. He announced this in his entire battalion. They installed a projector. My dad watched the match on the projector. When I took my first wicket, everyone stood and clapped for him, and hugged him. When he shared that video with me after the match, that was an unparalleled feeling for me. Because I saw my father smiling in the same way when he saw me playing in my starting days he did when I started playing,” said Kartikeya while speaking on a video posted by the Mumbai Indians.

Kartikeya finished with figures of 2/22 against arch-rivals Chennai Super Kings which was instrumental in them being dismissed for a paltry 97. MI not only won the contest by five wickets but also ended CSK’s title defence as well by knocking them out of the playoffs race. The left-arm spinner would now be hoping to end his campaign on a high by doing well in the remaining two fixtures. Mumbai Indians next face Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Wankhede Stadium on May 17.