Mukul Choudhary left Kolkata’s Eden Gardens buzzing on Thursday night, hammering 54 not out from 27 deliveries to drag Lucknow Super Giants past Kolkata Knight Riders in a chase that had looked gone. It was an innings born, he says, from years of copying his hero MS Dhoni and hours of repetitive range-hitting.
“I have practised that shot since childhood,” the 24-year-old reminded reporters, moments after launching Vaibhav Arora over mid-wicket with a trademark helicopter swing in the 17th over. “I always liked that, and the way Dhoni finished [an innings]. He used to hit a six even off a yorker. If you even hit that kind of a delivery for six, the bowler thinks about doing something different.”
When Choudhary arrived at the crease, Lucknow still needed 54 from 24 balls with only three wickets in hand. He scratched a single from his first five, then thumped 53 from the next 22 – seven sixes, two fours, little fuss.
“My body is a little powerful, and that has come to me naturally,” he said. “I also practise hitting 100-150 sixes every day, so the bat speed develops if you keep doing it. I have been practising a lot for the last five to six months, so it has come into my game.”
Those who watched last season’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy already knew the script. Choudhary’s unbeaten 62 off 26 for Rajasthan against Delhi – again seven maximums – pushed his tournament strike-rate to 198.85 and persuaded Lucknow to spend INR 2.6 crore at auction.
Head coach Justin Langer made his expectations plain the day the youngster signed. He told the franchise: he could become “the scariest No. 6 or No. 7 batter in India” inside four months. Choudhary still draws on that comment.
“When a big coach like him says something like that about you, I’m sure he has seen something in you,” he said. “He showed faith in me, so it was my time to repay it. During practice, he spends 10-15 minutes exclusively with me every day. Whatever he taught me turned out to be helpful. So I just did my job after he trusted me to do it.”
Langer, speaking to the host broadcaster after the win, kept the praise measured yet optimistic. “He’s so young, and he’s got that look in his eyes. He’s hungry,” the Australian said. “You know when you first come in, you try so hard, and [this victory will] just be a massive moment in his life and his career.”
Analysis
Choudhary’s method is straightforward: deep crease, strong base, fast bat. Against KKR he faced only 11 dot balls; everything else disappeared into gaps or over rope. The helicopter shot, a whip through the wrists that converts a full, even yorker-length ball into a leg-side launch, remains risky but disorientates bowlers who believe they’ve nailed their length.
At 24, Choudhary is hardly the finished article. His record against quality spin is limited, and he has yet to bat outside the lower middle order in the IPL. But the raw numbers – a strike-rate nudging 200 in domestic T20, clean hitting zones from long-on to square leg – justify Lucknow’s investment.
Former Australia captain Aaron Finch, working the television feed, summarised it neatly: incredible power aligned with a fair cricket IQ. Dale Steyn echoed that view, noting how the youngster “turned the tables” on KKR’s death unit, though neither needed hyperbole; the evidence was on the scoreboard.
For now, the helicopter keeps whirring. Lucknow bank crucial points, Choudhary repays a chunk of that auction fee, and a father who dreamed his son might play professional cricket can savour a night that felt both familiar and new.
