Mukesh Kumar on his Maiden Test Wicket: Mukesh Kumar who entered the list of top 10 expensive players in IPL 2023 bagged his first international wicket in his Test debut.
Mukesh Kumar on his Maiden Test Wicket
The right-arm medium bowler made his Test debut on July 20 in the 2nd Test match of India’s tour of West Indies 2023. In his debut, Mukesh Kumar bagged his first international wicket by dismissing Kirk McKenzie for 32 runs in the 1st inning.
Speaking on his achievement, Mukesh Kumar says “When I got the wicket, Virat bhaiya ran up and hugged me. I was in a different world. The man I have watched all these years on TV and looked up to is hugging you. It felt great”.
Mukesh Kumar’s maiden Test wicket! A moment for him to savour. A video for you to savour. #INDvWIonFanCode #WIvIND pic.twitter.com/fpCQSf1LsF
— FanCode (@FanCode) July 22, 2023
“When you (Siraj) and JD (Unadkat) bhai were bowling, Rohit bhai said ‘It’s not a pitch where you can get wickets instantly. You need to work hard. I had to set up the batter with consistent bowling,” Mukesh told his senior pace bowling partner (younger in age though) Mohammed Siraj in an interaction for BCCI.TV.
Although he was mentally ready, having gone through the paces in the nets, the moment he was told at the team meeting a day before, it took some time to sink in.
“When I came to know that I will be playing, I was shocked and actually completely zoned out. Whether I play or not, I am always prepared, so I went to attend the team meeting, keeping in mind that I need to follow my process. But there was some gut feel that I might play.” His mother was emotional and all those associated in this journey were very happy.
“So when it’s morning over here, it’s evening in India. So by evening, when I reached the hotel, I spoke to my mom, that’s a special feeling that ‘Maa main desh ke liye khel raha hoon (Mom, I am playing for the country). All my relatives and all those who supported me from the start are happy,” he told Siraj.
Speaking of the match, the hosts won the toss and opted to bowl first. India in their 1st inning scored 438 runs for 10 wickets loss with Virat’s 76th century. Indian openers Jaiswal and Rohit scored 139 runs for the 1st wicket and laid a decent foundation for the team.
Holder broke the partnership by dismissing Jaiswal for 57 runs soon Warrican dismissed the Indian skipper for 80 runs. While Gill and Rahane depart cheaply, Virat and Jadeja made a 159 runs partnership and pushed India beyond 300 runs mark.
With Ashwin’s 56 runs, India scored 438 runs at the end of their first inning. On the other hand, West Indies failed to build a strong opening partnership and lost their first wicket for 71 runs.
Ravindra Jadeja bagged the first wicket and broke the partnership while debutant Mukesh Kumar dismissed Kirk McKenzie for 32 runs and bagged his first international wicket. While Siraj dismantled West Indies’ middle and lower-order batters for a single-digit score and ended West Indies’ first inning for 255 runs.
India in their 2nd inning scored 181 runs for 2 wickets loss and declared the game where Ishan Kishan scored his first Test half-century. At the end of Day 4, West Indies scored 76 runs for 2 wickets loss and were in need of 289 runs for victory.
Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Jermaine Blackwood stand at the crease on behalf of West Indies with the score of 24 and 20 respectively. Ashwin who recently becomes the third Indian player to bag 700 international wickets dismissed Kraigg Brathwaite and Kirk McKenzie for 28 and 0 runs respectively in the WI’s second inning.
The match ended draw after the final day of the game was interrupted by rain. India won the 2-match Test series by 0-1.
