Ravindra Jadeja in 2008, Jasprit Bumrah in 2013, Hardik Pandya in 2015, Rishabh Pant in 2016, T. Natarajan in 2017, Ishan Kishan in 2020, these are some of the names that made a mark for themselves & were catapulted to glorious heights of success albeit with some of them who were inconsistent and faded with time. But make no mistake, IPL with all its glamour & glory over the years has unearthed some special talents with modest backgrounds who would go on to showcase their special cricketing skills & don India cap in the process.

Sample this: Abhinav Manohar, after his exploits in Karnataka Premier League & various Under 14-23 levels was bought by Gujarat Titans in a fierce bidding for 2.6 crore, 13 times more than his base price. His father used to have a footwear shop in Bengaluru and the family had to face financial duress when his father had to close his footwear shop & then a couple of more businesses due to financial loss.

Rinku Singh’s rags to riches stories is the stuff of IPL dreams that we hear from time to time. Rinku’s father Khanchandra delivers LPG Cylinders to homes, an elder brother drives an autorickshaw while another brother works in a coaching centre in Aligarh.

Rinku was bought by KKR for Rs. 80 lakhs after a pitched battle with Mumbai Indians who too were intent on snapping up the all-rounder.

IPL can be bashed up for its barter-trade like system, a tiring schedule leaving players completely exhausted, but it also dishes up fairy tales like those of Rinku Singh & Abhinav Manohar who didn’t gave up, went through the hard grind and came out like phoenix which rose from the ashes.