New Delhi: When Mukul Chaudhary packed his bags and headed home after IPL 2026, he took with him a deep sense of satisfaction. Had the joy of a memorable debut season, highlighted by his six-hit blitz against Kolkata Knight Riders that helped Lucknow Supergiants pull off a spectacular heist.It was the experience of sharing a dressing room with stars he had only seen on television growing up. And there were invaluable lessons that helped him understand his game better. But above all, one thing stood out.The biggest satisfaction for Muckle was knowing that he would finally be able to ease his family’s financial burden from the bank loan he took to build a house years ago.After impressing in domestic cricket, Mukul was picked up by Lucknow Supergiants for Rs 2.60 crore in the IPL auction. Now, with his first IPL season behind him and a pay cheque, the youngster is ready to return home and help clear the debt his family has been carrying for years.“My father was a teacher first. Then we sold our house. My grandfather, who was retired from the army, helped us by giving us some money. We also took a loan from my uncle. We bought a piece of land from him and later took a bank loan to build a hotel on it. For a long time we lived in a rented house. Ever since I started playing cricket, I have started a dialogue with another house.” told Times of India.com in an exclusive interview.“Now all will be chucked. [Now all those debts will be cleared]. I am happy that I could do this for my family. Thanks to all IPL and LSG.
First IPL six, a memory foreverMukul still laughs when he thinks about that IPL night at Eden Gardens.Facing KKR, the youngster played a knock of the season, scoring 57 off just 27 balls with seven massive sixes to spark a brilliant chase for the Lucknow Supergiants. After sealing the win, Muckle stood in the middle of the ground, hands folded, head bowed skyward, soaking in the moment.“A lot has changed in T20 cricket. For one, the impact player rule has come. Earlier batsmen were expected to play long innings and stay at the crease. Now teams have two all-rounders and the batting is extended to No. 9. The mentality has changed – as soon as you come in, you are expected to attack,” he said.“Earlier, a coach in an academy worked with 20 or 30 kids. Today, an entire support system is built around a talented player from a very young age. Look at Vibhu Suryavanshi, his father traveled everywhere with him when he was growing up. Having a mentor and special coach has become very important.Athletes now have personalized training programs, book bases for individual practice and receive much more attention. All this has changed the game significantly,” he explained.
For Mukul, the IPL was always more than any other tournament.“IPL is a huge platform for people like me. I feel lucky to have got this opportunity. Every cricketer’s first dream is to play for India, and IPL opens that path. I never thought so many things would happen so soon. My family was also very happy. What happened next was completely unexpected.”Hard work behind successLong before the IPL spotlight, Mukul spent countless hours chasing his dream. He constantly traveled between Gurgaon and Bharatpur (his residence) to play matches and improve his game, often spending the whole night on buses before batting the next day.“I also trained extensively in Gurugram. There were days when I would catch an overnight bus, reach Bharatpur in the morning, play a match there, travel back overnight and then play another match in Gurugram the very next day. For two to three months, I was completely focused on cricket,” Mukal said.“My brother was with me throughout. He took care of my diet and daily routine while continuing his studies. He helped me a lot. I wouldn’t call it a struggle, but it definitely required a lot of hard work. The goal was always to take my game to the next level,” he added.Sacrifices bring color. After impressing in Umar’s group cricket, Mukul scored 173 runs in five innings at a strike rate of 198.85 during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025–26, which led to an IPL contract with LSG.“Even before my father’s marriage, he had a dream that his son would play cricket. In the beginning, the financial situation was not very good. But my father and mother did everything to support me. My brother always stood by me, took care of me and helped me achieve my dreams.”Learning from Panta, Marsh and PuranasIPL was not just about performances. It was also a crash course in handling pressure and understanding match situations.
“I learned a lot from my time there. One thing everyone kept telling me was to stay positive, whether it was dealing with pressure situations or adapting your batting to the demands of the match.“Mitchell Marsh would often say to me, ‘Bat as deep into the innings as you can, if you’re still there, you can win the match for your team. There’s no point throwing your wicket away in a hurry.’ I also learned a lot from Aidan Markram and Nicholas Pooran. And yes, I spent a lot of time on my sixes as well,” he said.However, the biggest influence was the captain. Rishabh Pant.The biggest support for me was the trust shown in me by Pantbhaya. He would always say, ‘Brother, we trust you, so you need to trust yourself. You are here because you are good enough to be here. You didn’t get to this level by accident, you did something special to earn this opportunity. So pick yourself back up and believe in your ability.’ Their trust in me gave me a lot of confidence,” he said.There are big plans ahead.Mikkel finished IPL 2026 with 170 runs from 10 matches at a strike rate of 141.66, including 12 sixes. Despite LSG enduring a disappointing campaign and becoming the first team to be knocked out of the tournament, Muckle is confident about the future.“I would just like to say that we didn’t do as well this season as they had hoped. But we will make sure that next time we don’t fall short, we will come back stronger and do much better.”“I learned a lot from this IPL. The tournament taught me a lot, and I have already started thinking about what I want to improve before the next season. In a few days, I will start preparing again,” he signed off.
