Mukul Choudhary’s breakthrough in Lucknow Super Giants’ match against Kolkata Knight Riders has brought attention to an extraordinary story behind his journey. The LSG batter’s father, Dalip, has opened up about the scale of sacrifice that went into shaping his son’s career.
Speaking to Times of India after the LSG vs KKR thriller, Dalip revealed that he had always wanted his son to become a cricketer and was ready to do anything to make it happen. His journey saw him sell his house and take loans to sustain the dream – a path that, at one point, even led to jail.
Mukul rose to stardom on April 9 in the Indian Premier League when he single-handedly took LSG to victory against KKR at the Eden Gardens. He struck seven sixes in his innings, helping the visiting side clinch a final-ball thriller.
Speaking about his son, Dalip said that the dream of making Mukul a cricketer began the day he was born.
“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. When so many people make it, why can’t my son?” he recalled.
For several years, Dalip attempted to build a stable career to support that dream. He spent six years preparing for the Rajasthan Administrative Service examination but could not clear it. He then turned to real estate, which also failed to provide financial stability.
In 2016, father and son reached SBS Crickhub in Sikar, around 70 km from their home, marking the formal beginning of Mukul’s structured cricket training.
“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,” Dalip said.
I WENT TO JAIL: MUKUL CHOUDHARY’S FATHER
However, the financial strain soon deepened as repayments became difficult to manage. What began as an attempt to fund cricket training eventually spiralled into legal trouble.
“Yes, I failed to pay instalments on time. I even went to jail, but I never committed fraud,” he said.
Alongside the financial struggles, Dalip also faced social backlash from relatives and people around him, many of whom questioned his decisions during the difficult phase.
“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,” he added.
Despite the setbacks, Dalip maintained that his belief in Mukul’s potential never wavered, even as the journey demanded sacrifices he could not have anticipated at the start.
