Mukul Choudhary’s father faced jail for his cricket dream:Fastest bowler Ashok Sharma once took to farming; 7 IPL rising stars’ stories

Rampura, a small town 80 km from Jaipur. Two brothers, Akshay and Ashok, spent their days playing cricket in the courtyard. The elder brother’s ball often hit the younger one, on the chest, sometimes the head. Ashok’s answer was simple: bowl faster. He practised relentlessly, and within a few years, his pace was feared across the area. Money was tight. Their father earned barely ₹10,000 a month through farming and selling newspapers, so only one son could attend an academy. The elder brother stepped aside, saying, ‘You play.’ Ashok joined the Aravali Cricket Academy in Jaipur. Coach Vivek Yadav backed him strongly. But when the coach died during COVID-19, Ashok quit cricket and returned to the fields with his father. Today, the same Ashok Sharma has bowled the fastest delivery of IPL 2026, at 154.2 kmph. The season is only a quarter done, but stories like his are already emerging. In today’s Weekly Lens, let’s go through seven such unheard journeys… Also read this IPL story… How T20 World Cup champions are faring in IPL: Samson hits a century; Chakravarthy, Bumrah wicketless; Rinku, Hardik and Arshdeep struggle A total of 18 matches have been completed in the 19th season of the IPL and fans have closely followed the performances of players who helped India win the T20 World Cup. Many of these players are now representing different franchises in the league. Read full story here.