Mukul Chaudhary (BCCI/IPL photo)

New Delhi: When Mukul Chaudhary packed his bags and left for home after IPL 2026, there was a deep sense of satisfaction with him. There was the joy of a memorable debut season, highlighted by his six-hit blitz against Kolkata Knight Riders that helped Lucknow Super Giants pull off a surprise heist.The experience of sharing a dressing room with stars he had only seen on television while growing up. And there were invaluable lessons that helped him understand his game better. But most of all, one thing stood out.The greatest satisfaction for Mukul was knowing that he would finally be able to reduce the financial burden of his family by repaying the bank loan he had taken years ago to build the house.After impressing in domestic cricket, Mukul was bought by Lucknow Supergiants for Rs 2.60 crore in the IPL auction. Now, with his first IPL season over and his salary secure, the young player is ready to return home and help his family pay off the debt they have accrued over the years.“Before all this, my father was a teacher. Then we sold our house. My grandfather, who had retired from the army, helped us with some money. We also borrowed from my uncle. From him we bought a piece of land and later took a loan from the bank to build a hotel on it. For a long time, we lived in a rented house. Ever since I started playing cricket, our family has been moving from one rented house to another,” Mukul told TimesofIndia.com in an exclusive interview. Is.”“Now everything will go away [Now all those debts will be cleared]. I’m glad I could do this for my family. Thanks to IPL and LSG.”

The first IPL six, a memory foreverMukul still gets goosebumps when he thinks about that IPL night at Eden Gardens.Facing KKR, the youngster played one of the finest innings of the season, hitting 57 runs in just 27 balls with the help of seven sky-high sixes, giving Lucknow Super Giants a spectacular target. After sealing the victory, Mukul stood in the middle of the field with folded hands, head bowed towards the sky, enjoying the moment.“A lot has changed in T20 cricket. The impact player rule has come in. Earlier, batsmen were expected to play long innings and stay at the crease. Now teams have two all-rounders and batting goes up 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 would work with 20 or 30 kids. Today, an entire support system is built around a talented player from a very young age. Look at Vaibhav Suryavanshi, when he was growing up, his father used to travel with him everywhere. It has become extremely important to have a mentor and special trainers.Players now have personalized training programs, book individual practice grounds and are far more focused. All of this has changed the game significantly,” he explained.

For Mukul, IPL was always more than just another tournament.“IPL is a big platform for someone like me. I feel lucky to have got this opportunity. Every cricketer’s first dream is to play for India and the IPL opens that path. I never thought that so many things would happen so quickly. My family was also very happy. Whatever happened next was completely unexpected.”hard work behind successLong before the IPL spotlight, Mukul spent countless hours chasing his dream. He traveled frequently between Gurgaon and Bharatpur (his residence) to play matches and improve his game, often spending the whole night in 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. Mukul said, “For two-three months my entire focus was on cricket.”He said, “My brother stayed with me throughout that time. He took care of my diet and daily routine as I continued my 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.”The sacrifices were rewarded. After impressing in age-group cricket, Mukul scored 173 runs at a strike rate of 198.85 in five innings during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025-26, and earned an IPL contract with LSG.“Even before my father got married, he had a dream that his son should play cricket. The financial situation was not very good in the beginning. But my father and mother did everything to support me. My brother was always with me, took care of me and helped me fulfill my dreams.”Learning from Pant, Marsh and PuranIPL 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 molding your batting as per 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 in throwing your wicket away in a hurry.’ I also learned a lot from Aiden Markram and Nicholas Pooran. And yes, I spent a lot of time working on my sixes as well,” he said.However, the biggest impact was that of the captain Rishabh Pant.The biggest support for me was the trust shown in me by Pant Bhaiya. He would always say, ‘Brother, we believe in you, so you also need to believe in yourself.’ You’re here because you’re good enough to be here. You didn’t get to this level by chance, you did something special to earn this opportunity. So support yourself and have faith in your abilities. Their belief in me gave me a lot of confidence,” he said.Big plans aheadMukul finished IPL 2026 with 170 runs in 10 matches at a strike rate of 141.66, which included 12 sixes. Despite LSG’s disappointing campaign and becoming the first team to be eliminated from the tournament, Mukul is confident about the future.“I would just like to say that we could not perform as well as they expected this season. But we will make sure that next time we do not fall behind. We will come back stronger and perform much better.”“I learned a lot from this IPL. This 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 said.