Tushar in Chennai Super Kings' training
The rise of Tushar Deshpande – from a ball boy in IPL 2008 to a Chennai Super Kings bowler in IPL 2022 – has been full of ups and downs. But despite frequent injuries, and also the loss of his mother in 2019 during the domestic season, the Mumbai fast bowler has never given up, and has only bounced back stronger every time.
Deshpande made his T20 debut in the senior Mumbai team in 2015, shortly after which he made his first-class debut in 2016. The List A debut, meanwhile, came in 2018.
On the back of impressive performances across formats in domestic cricket, Deshpande was picked by the Delhi Capitals in 2020, when he scalped three wickets in five games. Despite making most of the limited chances he got that season, the pacer went unsold in the auctions for IPL 2021.
Not the one to give up, Deshpande kept working hard in domestic cricket before being recalled into the IPL by CSK for the 2022 season.
“The journey from a ball boy in IPL 2008 to a CSK bowler in 2022 is simply a dream coming true,” says Tushar in an interview to OneCricket.
“There are many things to achieve in future and I would like to follow MS Dhoni’s trait of being grounded. I've admired how grounded and calm he is,” he adds.
 "Umaima Saeed")
