Waiter to IPL finalist:Kulwant Khejroliya’s inspiring journey; praises fearless Vaibhav Sooryavanshi

Gujarat Titans fast bowler Kulwant Khejroliya (34) fulfilled his dream of playing cricket after running away from home Kulwant is a resident of Chudi Ajitgarh village in Jhunjhunu district. Kulwant’s story is an example of struggle, passion, and hard work. He has been part of 5 different IPL franchises. Left-arm fast bowler Kulwant is known for swinging the ball and troubling batsmen with his different angles. To fulfill his dream of becoming a cricketer, he worked at a grocery store while helping his family financially. He worked as a waiter at a hotel in Goa and even cleaned tables. He had a special conversation with Dainik Bhaskar about his cricket career, IPL experience, challenges faced by Rajasthan players, and important lessons for young players. Question: How was this season of the Indian Premier League for you? Answer: This time, the IPL journey was quite wonderful for me. Our team reached the final. From the beginning to the end, the effort was to ensure the team performs well. Certainly, there is regret that we couldn’t win the final, but the entire tournament experience was very special. I got the opportunity to share the dressing room with many big and experienced players. There was something new to learn from every match and every situation. This learning will be very useful for my cricket career in the future. IPL is such a platform where every day teaches you something new. Question: You have been part of 5 IPL teams. How has this journey been? Answer: Every team has its own different atmosphere and experience. My IPL debut was with the Mumbai Indians. That was the first IPL season of my career, and at that time, I didn’t have much experience. But in my heart and mind, there was only one passion – to make my identity in IPL. With the Mumbai Indians, I got the opportunity to play and learn with legendary players like Lasith Malinga, Jasprit Bumrah, and Rohit Sharma. After that, when I reached Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), I got the opportunity to share the dressing room with great players like Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. I got to learn different things from every team. The benefit of these experiences was not only in IPL but also in domestic cricket, and I was able to continuously improve my game. Question: Which was the most memorable moment? Answer: Making my IPL debut was the most memorable moment for me. It is such a moment that I can never forget in my entire life. For any player, playing their first match in IPL is a dream, and my dream came true. Apart from this, when I was part of RCB, the match played against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens in Kolkata is also among the most memorable experiences of my life. Question: Despite being from Rajasthan, you don’t play for the state’s Ranji team. What was the reason for this? Answer: When I started playing cricket, I first went to Delhi. There, Gautam Gambhir sir noticed my bowling. He included me in the Ranji Trophy camp as a net bowler. That’s where my real cricket career began. Many players and coaches were impressed by my bowling at the camp. After that, I got an opportunity in Delhi’s Ranji team, and I started my professional cricket career from Delhi itself. That’s why my entire cricketing journey progressed from there. Question: Many players from Rajasthan are playing for other states. Does this weaken Rajasthan’s team? Answer: I think Rajasthan’s team is still performing brilliantly today. As far as players playing for other states is concerned, every player’s circumstances are different. There is no shortage of talent in Rajasthan. Especially in rural areas, there are extremely talented players. But one has to struggle a lot to progress from there. Many times, for better coaching, better facilities, and right opportunities, players have to leave their home and city. Competition in cricket has increased a lot today. In such a situation where a player gets a better opportunity at the right time, he moves forward in that direction. This is why many players are playing from other states. Question: How difficult was the journey from coming out of a farming family to reaching IPL? Answer: My story is a bit different. I started my cricket career by running away from home. When I left home, my family didn’t even know that I was going to play cricket. Actually, in our area, there wasn’t an atmosphere of viewing cricket as a career. There, after passing 12th grade, the thinking was more about getting young people recruited into the army. My father did farming and also ran a grocery (kirana) shop to support the family. He also didn’t have the knowledge about what should be done to advance in cricket. But I had a passion for cricket inside me. That same passion took me to Delhi. There I saw struggle, saw difficult days, but gradually the right people and the right path kept coming. Today, wherever I am, the same struggle and hard work lie behind. I would just like to say to young players that if you want to fulfill your dreams, then you have to work hard. Many times, you have to move forward even by leaving home. Question: Vaibhav Suryavanshi is currently most talked-about face of Indian cricket. Are bowlers afraid of him? Answer: In cricket, no player is small or big. Therefore, there is no such thing as fear in a bowler’s mind towards them. However, I will definitely say that Vaibhav is an extremely talented player. He has excellent skills, and the biggest thing is that he is very fearless. Confidence is clearly visible in his game. There is no sign of fear in him, and this quality is what makes him different from other players. Question: What has been the biggest lesson from IPL that you would like to share with young players? Answer: When I was part of Royal Challengers Bangalore, Virat Kohli told me something that always remains in my mind even today. Kulwant Khejroliya says one piece of advice from Virat Kohli has guided him throughout his career. Kohli told him that a player should never change his routine or work ethic, regardless of whether he is performing well, struggling, or even getting opportunities in the team. “Work hard every day with the same dedication and passion,” Kohli had advised. Kulwant considers this lesson his biggest source of inspiration and says he still follows it in his cricketing journey. He believes players can achieve success only by giving their best every day and remaining completely honest towards their work. Born into a farmer’s family, Kulwant is the son of Shankar Singh, who runs a small grocery shop in their village. Fondly known as “Chhotu” among villagers, Kulwant hid his cricketing ambitions from his family for nearly six months before pursuing the sport seriously. Through perseverance and hard work, he eventually fulfilled his dream of reaching the IPL. Kulwant Khejroliya’s Career Kulwant was bought by the Mumbai Indians at the base price of ₹10 lakh in the IPL 2017 auction. After that, he has been part of teams like Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kolkata Knight Riders, Delhi Capitals, and Gujarat Titans. Kulwant has taken 6 wickets in 8 matches in the IPL. His economy rate is 10.6 runs per over. He has taken 27 wickets in 26 domestic T-20 matches. His economy rate is 8.1 runs per over. In First Class cricket, he has taken 73 wickets in 27 matches. While in List A, Khejroliya has taken 75 wickets. Along with this, Kulwant also holds the record of taking 4 wickets in 4 balls in a Ranji match.