Lost Father And Brother In Six Months, Loaded Sand For ₹150 A Day, Now India's Pace Bowling Hope: The Inspiring Story Of...
After losing his father and brother, Akash quit cricket completely for three years. He worked loading sand trucks near the Sone river in Bihar, earning just ₹150 per day. Every rupee went home to feed his family.
When Akash first reached Kolkata to pursue cricket, three major clubs - United CC, YMCA, and Kalighat - rejected him outright. They didn't see potential in the raw, erratic bowler from Bihar. Today, he's India's pace bowling hope.
A serious back injury threatened to end Akash's career during his early development years in Bengal. Doctors were pessimistic, but his coach Sourasish Lahiri refused to give up. Months of rehabilitation brought him back stronger.
Just two months before his historic 10-wicket haul at Edgbaston, Akash's elder sister Jyoti was diagnosed with colon cancer. She's in the third stage, needing six more months of treatment. He dedicated every wicket to her fight.
During IPL 2025 with Lucknow Super Giants, Akash would finish practice and rush to the hospital where his sister was receiving cancer treatment. Every evening, cricket took a backseat to family. Fame means nothing without the people you love.
In Sasaram, Bihar, parents actively discouraged their children from playing cricket with Akash. They feared cricket was a 'disease' that would distract kids from studies. Playing cricket was literally treated like a crime in his neighborhood.
Akash's own father, a school teacher, was completely against cricket. He wanted his son to take up stable government jobs like becoming a police constable or even a peon. In rural Bihar, cricket seemed like an impossible dream with no future.
When coach Ranadeb Bose told Sourav Ganguly about a talented but malnourished boy from Bihar, Ganguly's response was simple: "Thik achhe, rakho" (Fine, keep him). Those two words through the Vision 2020 program changed Akash's entire life trajectory.
Mohammed Shami became Akash's mentor in the Bengal team, teaching him patience and bowling discipline. Shami's advice was simple: don't try too many variations early, focus on consistency. Now Akash uses that wisdom to trouble England's best batsmen.
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