Mumbai Indians (MI) picked Digvijay Deshmukh in the IPL auction for INR 20 Lakhs on Thursday.
Deshmukh is a 21-year-old fast bowlerwho made his debut in Indian domestic cricket for Maharashtra earlier thisyear.
However, those who have seen 2013 Bollywood film 'Kai PoChe' will remember MI's newest recruit in a different role. Deshmukh had playedthe role of Ali, a 14-year-old buddingcricketer, around whom much of the film's plot revolves.
Ali had played the role of a brilliant batsman in the film.He had then been 14. Seven years later, his dreams of becoming a cricketer atthe highest level have come very close to being realized after being one of theIndian uncapped players picked by IPL teams before the IPL 2020 season.
Several of MI's past uncapped player picks have gone on tobecome world-beaters, like Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya.
Born in Beed district of Maharashtra, Deshmukh made hisdebut for Maharashtra in the 2019/20 season. He took 9 wickets in the SyedMushtaq Ali Trophy. He got only two opportunities to bat, scoring 19 runs –with 12 of those coming via sixes.
In his Ranji Trophy debut in December, he took 6 wickets for61 runs vs Jammu and Kashmir.
In the team photo tweeted by Mumbai Indians on Friday,Deshmukh is seen standing in the back row.Alongside Mohsin Khan and Prince Balwant RaiSingh, Deshmukh is the third uncapped Indian to have been picked by MI in theIPL auction, all of them at their base prices. Nathan Coulter-Nile (INR 8Crore) and Chris Lynn (INR 2 Crore) were the two players who they spent most oftheir budget on before the IPL 2020 season.
