'Prayed to god to bless him with success so that I could be reunited' - Kumar Kartikeya's mother recalls son's journey

Kumar Kartikeya was drafted by Mumbai Indians (MI) during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022, and the 24-year-old’s career has been on an upward graph ever since. He had left his home nine years ago and returned to meet his family only this month.

Kartikeya’s mother, Sunita Singh spoke about the reunion with her son. She said that she prayed to God to recognise Kartikeya’s journey and bless him with success so that she could reunite with her son. She said that leaving her son was a sacrifice they had to make.

“He was coming home after 9 years. That’s how long I have waited for my son to return, successful and happy,” said Sunita. “After all the sacrifices over the years, I pray to god to recognize his journey and bless him with success so that I could be reunited with my son. It is his life and his journey, this was a sacrifice that we needed to make,” she told MumbaiIndians.com.

Kartikeya got a wicket off his second ball , in his first IPL game, finishing with figures of 1/19, conceding just one boundary. He was also selected to play in the Ranji Trophy 2021-2022 season, finishing with 32 wickets, which is the second-highest in the season, as he helped Madhya Pradesh win their first title in 23 years.

Speaking about his son’s journey, Shyam Nath Singh, Kartikeya’s father, recited a saying from a story. “There are two paths. One is right, and the other is wrong. The wrong path will be easy and the other one will be filled with difficulties and challenges, but that’s what will make your journey successful,” he said.

Looking back on the last nine years, which made him the player he is today, Kartikeya was reminded of Mumbai Indians and Indian cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar’s words during training, “The game comes before everything and cricket must always be respected.”