From aspiring batter to pacer, Vyshak’s journey to the IPL 

CHENNAI: IT was the fourth ball of the fifth over during the chase between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Capitals on Saturday. Vyshak Vijay Kumar ran in and angled the ball across David Warner. Early into the shot, the southpaw hit it straight to Virat Kohli at midwicket. Vyshak let out a roar which was engulfed by that of the packed M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

The 26-year-old had taken his first IPL wicket on debut, that too, of Warner, setting up the game for RCB. Vyshak would come back again in the middle-overs to take more wickets with his knuckle balls, registering (3/20) the second-best figures by an Indian on IPL debut (best for RCB).

Vyshak was the hero for the franchise in front of a home crowd at a ground where he grew up playing all his cricket. Dream debut, enough said. However, Vyshak did not begin his cricket journey as a pacer. He broke into age-group teams early, largely as a batter and even captained the state U-16 team. That is when he joined Basavanagudi Cricket Academy.

“At that time, he used to be on the heavier side and more interested in batting than his bowling. I used to taunt him that he couldn’t bowl fast, couldn’t run fast around the ground. He took it as a challenge and now, here he is, bowling fast for RCB in the IPL,” recalls Ramana, who worked with Vyshak at the academy.

The transformation, however, did not happen overnight. If one goes through the bowling stats of Vyshak in the first division tournaments, there is a gradual improvement. In the 2016-17 season, he averaged 49.23 with the ball for Social Cricketers. Over the next three years, it came down to 30.27, 25.85, and 15.31, respectively.

Vyshak would go on to make his senior List-A debut in the 2020-21 season followed by the T20 and first-class debut the year after. In the 2022-23 season, Vyshak was the second leading wicket-taker for Karnataka in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (15 scalps) and the joint-leading wicket-taker for the team in Ranji Trophy with 31 wickets.

From starting his journey with cricket at the age of nine to playing for RCB at 26, Vyshak has come a long way. But it did not happen without support. When it was suggested to Vijay Kumar, his dad, that Vyshak has the potential to make it big in cricket, he left his regular job at a private company to focus on his cricket. He has been with Vyshak in every step of his cricketing journey over the years.

“My wife Brinda, who was working in a private firm as HR at that point, took over the family responsibilities. She sacrificed a lot for us. She would go on and become the director of the company as well. I would go to school, college, every practice match, travel for the U-13, U16 tournaments to watch him play,” says a proud Vijay Kumar, who, fittingly, was at the stadium to watch his son’s dream debut. “It is a great feeling as a parent. We feel proud. Thank the almighty for everything,” Vijay Kumar adds over the phone as he was waiting outside the stadium on Saturday to meet his Vyshak after the match.

There is one other person who had a significant role in Vyshak’s rise to the top — former Karnataka and RCB player Abhimanyu Mithun. Mithun has been working with Vyshak for a few years now, especially during the off-season. He helped Vyshak in settling into his run up and to prepare mentally as a pacer for every batter.

“We are very thankful to Mithun. He knew Vyshak when he was playing. He was very close to Vyshak in the state team. He was very impressed with what he saw and took him on. He has been guiding and coaching. We are very thankful. He is doing it free of cost. He doesn’t even charge us,” said Vijay Kumar.

Brief scores: RCB 174/6 in 20 ovs (Kohli 50; Marsh 2/18, Kuldeep 2/23) bt DC 151/9 in 20 ovs (Manish 50; Vyshak 3/20).