The Indian Premier League (IPL) continues to unearth new gems every season. As the cricket world was set on fire after Delhi Capitals’ David Warner failed to hit a single run from the last two balls of the match against Gujarat Titans, Lucknow Super Giants’ Mukesh Choudhary single-handedly helped his team score 54 runs from the last four overs against Kolkata Knight Riders. Mukul was quick to dedicate his knock of 54 off 27 balls to his father, without whom his cricket career would not have even started.
Speaking to the Times of India after his son turned the IPL world upside down with his blitzkrieg, Mukul’s father, Dalip Choudhary, recalled the sacrifices he had to make to push his son’s career as a cricketer. In fact, Dalip admitted during the interview that he had planned to make his son a cricketer, if he was blessed with one, even before he got married.
“Maine pucha usse, beta ro liya? (I asked him, son, did you cry?). He nodded and smiled,” said Choudhary, understandably emotional after witnessing his son’s magical performance at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
It was Mukul’s third outing for LSG in IPL 2026 since being bought for £260,000 (Rs 2.60 crore) in the auction last year. He recorded scores of 14 and 2 not out for Lucknow in the last two matches. His debut came against the Delhi Capitals, against whom he failed to finish the game for the franchise the way he did against KKR.
“He was frustrated that he could not finish the game. He kept saying that the LSG management had bought him for so much money, so what was the point if he could not win matches for them? He was distraught. He promised me that in the next match, he would make everyone proud, and he delivered on that promise,” he added.
What was that?
Mukul Choudhary brings the heat at Eden Gardens to seal it for #LSG #LucknowSuperGiants #KolkataKnightRiders #TATAIPL #MukulChoudhary pic.twitter.com/aBnTyoARLq
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) April 9, 2026
Sharing the story of his graduation and the idea of pushing his son to become a cricketer, Dalip said that he didn’t care about the competition and wanted to do everything he could to make this dream a reality.
“I graduated in 2003, the same year I got married, and I had a dream that if I ever had a son, he would play cricket. The next year, I was blessed with a son, and from a very young age, I decided that I would do everything to make him a cricketer. Jab itne saare log bante hai toh mera beta kyun nahi? (When so many people make it, why can’t my son?),” he recalled.
Loan Default, Then Jail
Dalip, who belongs to a modest family, had to sell his house and even take loans to fuel his son’s journey as a cricketer. The LSG wicket-keeper batter’s father even revealed that he had to go to jail in the process.
“Once I enrolled him, I realised I did not have enough money. I decided to sell my house because I did not have a regular income. I got Rs 21 lakh. I asked the buyer to transfer the entire amount to my account so that everything was on record. The next year, I started a hotel and took another loan. Yes, I failed to pay instalments on time. I even went to jail, but I never committed fraud,” he said.
“My relatives left me. They called me a madman. ‘Khud ki zindagi barbaad kar di, ab apne bete ko baksh de’ (You have ruined your own life, now spare your son). These are some of the things that were said to my face. It only made my family stronger. Those harsh words made me even more determined that I was on the right path,” added Dalip, who himself was a cricketer but only played local tournaments in his village. “For me, it was Kapil Dev and Sachin Tendulkar. They were my idols growing up. I used to watch videos of Sachin with my son, but after the 2011 ODI World Cup, when MS Dhoni hit the winning six, he became a Dhoni fan and asked me for a pair of gloves,” Dalip recalled.
When asked about what he plans to do after being bought for Rs 2.60 crore by LSG in the auction last year, Mukul had revealed that he plans to pay off his father’s loans.