The inspiring story of MD Nidheesh, who followed his dreams to play for Mumbai Indians

The Mumbai Indians (MI) is one of the most celebrated and successful franchises that has been an important part of the ten years of the Indian Premier League (IPL) history. Over the years, MI has provided many local players the platform to display their potential and talent on a bigger stage and players like Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Ambati Rayudu have gained some massive recognition.

These Mumbai players also received the golden opportunity of playing for the Indian team and then they showed their abilities at the international stage. One such aspiring talent, MD Nidheesh was picked up by the franchise in the IPL 2018 auction.

My friends advised me to join a proper cricket coaching club: Nidheesh

MD Nidheesh, who is a medium pacer, was bought up by the Mumbai Indians for his base price of INR 20 lakhs. He comes from a small village near Kochi. The 26-year old play domestic cricket for Kerala and has scalped 21 wickets in 13 first-class games. During a recent conversation with Cricketnext, he revealed the name of his idol, who aspired him to become a fast bowler.

“I started taking cricket seriously after completing my 12th class education. My friends told me to join the TCC Club and I started my coaching at the age of 17 in 2008. Sreesanth is my idol and I liked to imitate his action since he made his debut in 2005,” said Nidheesh on his early days, as quoted by Cricketnext.

The Kerala medium-pacer mentioned that he got injured during the trials and was thus, not able to play for his state team in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament, that took place earlier this year. He stated that missing the trials and the matches thereafter was very upsetting.

There are surely a lot of things to learn from the big star MI players

Mumbai Indians have picked up a very balanced and strong squad for their quest to defend the IPL title. Thus, it is very difficult for a youngster to claim a spot in the playing XI in the early part of the tournament. Nidheesh also revealed that it’s not easy to get a place in the Mumbai Indians team right now. But the youngster knows the fact that there are much more important learnings which he could grasp from his experienced teammates.

“We have a very good bowling attack, so it is very difficult to get into the final XI. I hope to learn a lot from the experienced bowlers like Bumrah, Mitchell and the coaches Shane Bond and Malinga. I know its very tough, but it is a challenge for me,” further added the Kerala medium pacer.

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