3 current Indian male cricketers who overcame humble backgrounds to reach the top

Former Indian left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha recently revealed how current national captain Rohit Sharma rose from a humble background to reach the heights that he has touched today. Ojha and Rohit have known each other since their early days in the game.

Apart from playing for India together, both were also part of the Deccan Chargers in the inaugural Indian Premier League (IPL) edition in 2008. They also played together for Mumbai Indians (MI).

Speaking to JioCinema, Ojha recalled that he had first met Rohit at a U-15 national camp. Revealing one of his early interactions with the Mumbai batter, he said:

“He was from a middle-class family and I remember he once got emotional when we discussed how his budget for cricket kits was restricted. In fact, he also delivered milk packets - of course that was really a long time ago - so that he could buy his kit. Now when I see him, I feel very proud of how our journey started and where we reached.”

Rohit’s story is not an isolated one in Indian cricket. We take a look at three other current Indian men's cricketers who overcame humble backgrounds to reach the top.

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#1 Ravindra Jadeja

All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja during the ODI series against Australia. Pic: Getty Images

Team India’s star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja is one of the biggest names in world cricket today. But his rise to the top has had its fair share of struggles.

Born into a middle-class Rajput family in Jamnagar, Gujarat, the cricketer’s father worked as a watchman. He lost his mother when he was only 17.

Following the death of his mother, his sister took up the responsibility of looking after the family. Jadejas lived in a one-room house, which was allotted to the cricketer's mother since she was a nurse at a government hospital.

Even as Jadeja was still trying to overcome the loss of his mother and his family was grappling with financial issues, the all-rounder was selected for India U-19 in 2005.

He impressed and was later named vice-captain of the 2008 U-19 World Cup that India won.

He has three triple centuries in first-class cricket. Speaking of his international career, he is an indispensable part of the Indian squad across all formats, with the ability to win games with his batting, bowling, and fielding.

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#2 Jasprit Bumrah

Men in Blue pacer Jasprit Bumrah. Pic: Getty Images

Team India’s lead pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who is currently recuperating from a back injury, also comes from an extremely humble background.

Bumrah lost his father when he was only five years old. His mother, a school teacher in Ahmedabad, faced a lot of hardships raising the family after the death of her husband.

In a video shared by Mumbai Indians (MI) back in 2019, Bumrah recalled his struggling days and revealed that as a child, he had only one pair of shoes and one pair of T-shirts. He was heard saying in the video:

"After that (his father’s death), we couldn't afford anything. I had one pair of shoes. I used to have one pair of T-shirts. I used to wash them and use it again and again. So, as a child, you know you hear stories that sometimes these things happen that some people come and watch you and you get picked up like this. But it actually happened.”

Luck favored the youngster and his hard work bore fruit as when he was spotted by the Mumbai Indians (MI) and made his debut for the franchise during the IPL 2013 season.

He dismissed Virat Kohli in his first IPL game. The rest, as they say, is history.

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#3 Hardik Pandya

Indian All-rounder Hardik Pandya. Pic: Getty Images

Team India all-rounder Hardik Pandya is known for his flamboyant lifestyle today. But life was rather tough for him growing up. His family hailed from Surat in Gujarat and his late father had to work extremely hard to make ends meet.

The cricketer’s father, Himanshu, had a small car finance business in Surat. He shut the same down and moved to Vadodara to provide better cricket facilities to his sons Hardik and Krunal. The two were thus enrolled at Kiran More’s Cricket Academy.

In 2016, in an interview with The Indian Express, Hardik revealed that they used to have Maggi (then worth ₹5) as their breakfast and lunch since they did not have much money. He recalled:

“Five rupees ke maggi aati thi, malli ko request karke garam pani leta tha aur mein aur mere bhai ground pe bana ke khata the. Breakfast bhi wohi aur lunch bhi wohi (my brother and I used to get maggi for Rs 5, and we used to request the gardener to give us hot water, and we used to prepare and eat it at the ground for lunch and breakfast).

Hardik and Krunal even played in some local tournaments and earned around ₹500 to support the family.

Hardik was purchased by Mumbai Indians for ₹10 lakh during the IPL 2015 auction. He is now Gujarat Titans (GT) captain.

Krunal also played for MI and now represents the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the T20 league.