IPL: Can rookie Mukul Choudhary be one of the ‘scariest’ finishers in India?

The morning after rookie Mukul Choudhary stole the thunder against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens, India’s cricket fraternity can’t stop gushing about the 21-year-old from Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan. The unlikely hero for Lucknow Super Giants is yet another example of what the IPL has been bringing to the table in terms of throwing up raw talent from the hinterland of the country and changing their lives.

 A reel released by the social media team of LSG, which has now gone viral, shows their head coach Justin Langer saying that he could make Mukul one of the ‘scariest number 6 or 7 batters in India’ in four months’ time. While one cannot vouch for that on the basis of just one stunner of an innings (unbeaten 54 off 27 balls), he could certainly be Rishabh Pant’s go-to man for finishing close matches in a long season.

 It’s a no-brainer that self belief has to be one of the key components to execute one’s plans under such tremendous pressure and Mukul showed he had it in him aplenty – apart from the physique of a power hitter and the skillsets for the helicopter shot ala his idol Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Add to that is the calmness which he showed even as wickets kept falling at the other end and Mukul looks a complete package for the future.

 ‘’When a big coach like him (Langer) says something good, he may have seen something in me,’’ the star of the day said without undue modesty. ‘’He used to spend 15-20 minutes separately with me and believed in me – I am glad I could justify the faith of the management and Rishabh bhai,’’ said Mukul, whom LSG picked up in the mini auction at a price tag of Rs 2.6 crores after a bidding war with Mumbai Indians.

 The unique quality about Mukul’s innings, who was playing his first IPL game under lights and in front of an Eden crowd, was that the helicopter shot was not the only one in his arsenal which stood out. The way he used his reach to an attempted wide yorker from Vaibhav Arora for a crucial six over point in the final over showed he could be a difficult customer to bowl at.

 ‘’When Ayush bhai was out, I realized that I will have to do whatever I can to take the team over the line. At one point in the last over, we needed seven off four balls and I thought even if I fail to connect with one of them, I can hit one six off the next few,’’ said Mukul – who was seen on his hunches before the crunch deliveries. ‘’There was, of course, pressure on me as it’s first season in IPL. I took a few deep breath and then carried on,’’ said the man of the moment who is also a wicketkeeper for his state.

For those familiar with domestic cricket, Mukul was one of the breakout stars of the 2025-26 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy campaign where he totalled 173 runs at an average of 57-plus, while also striking at just a tick under 200. His shot at the SMAT tournament were earned after he hammered 600-plus runs with back to back centuries in an age group competition to catch his state team’s attention.

Having travelled from his home at remote Jhunjhunu to the state capital of Jaipur to proceed with his cricket dreams, he joined the same academy which produced two more recent IPL stars – Kartik Sharma and Ashok Sharma. Kartik, in fact, had a small role to play in Mukul’s journey as it was his injury lay-off that earned Mukul a call-up to the team for the SMAT.

 Talk about dedicating the innings, he was prompt to dedicate to his father – who apparently wanted to live his own dream through his son. Now, that sounds like an all-too-familiar story!