Sports / Mon, 08 Apr 2024 The Indian Express

Yash Thakur’s journey: A failed singer, a wannabe Dhoni, who is living his late father’s dream

On December 28, Yash Thakur spent his 25th birthday performing the last rites of his father, who died after prolonged illness. We were all surprised when he joined Vidarbha’s Ranji Trophy team, we were not expecting it, but he motivated himself. “Papa ke liye kar raha hun, wo yahi chahte they (I am doing this for father, he wanted me to play),” recalls Kajal. “Yash was very close to his father and even during his last days, they used to talk a lot about cricket. AdvertisementFailed singer and a Dhoni fanYash’s mother never wanted her son to play cricket but become a singer.

On December 28, Yash Thakur spent his 25th birthday performing the last rites of his father, who died after prolonged illness. The youngster missed the first two Ranji Trophy matches due to the rituals but joined the Vidarbha team for the third match, and played a pivotal role in them reaching the final.

“Ek aansu nahi giraye hai is ladke ne. (He didn’t shed a drop of tear),” an emotional Kajal Thakur, his mother, tells The Indian Express from Nagpur.

“He completed the shraadh sanskaar. He managed everything single-handedly. We were all surprised when he joined Vidarbha’s Ranji Trophy team, we were not expecting it, but he motivated himself. God knows how he managed that,” says Yash’s mother.

When Yash was packing his kit to join the team, his mother Kajal and elder sister Shweta would suggest skipping one more match if he isn’t ready yet but Yash was adamant as he had promised his late father on his deathbed that he would not lose his “focus”.

“Papa ke liye kar raha hun, wo yahi chahte they (I am doing this for father, he wanted me to play),” recalls Kajal.

“Yash was very close to his father and even during his last days, they used to talk a lot about cricket. After every match, he used to have long chats with his father. My husband would keep pointing out the mistakes and he would listen like a good student. I am sure he misses him a lot. He never talks about his father in front of me but after taking five-wickets, he told his sister that he missed his father today,” she says.

Thakur took 5/30 to help Lucknow Super Giants record its first win over Gujarat Titans in the IPL and dedicated his Player of the Match award to his father Ravi Singh Thakur.

“My father is no more. I am dedicating this award to him. He wanted to see me getting a five-wicket haul, so this one is for him,” he said in the post-match presentation.

Failed singer and a Dhoni fan

Yash’s mother never wanted her son to play cricket but become a singer. She even enrolled him in a singing class.

“After the first day, the teacher said, ‘please don’t bring him from tomorrow. He doesn’t talk, he is so shy and I don’t think he can sing’. The teacher was very kind, in reality, he was a terrible singer,” she laughs.

READ: LSG’s impeccable record of defending totals continues as Yash Thakur, Krunal Pandya star

The love for cricket was always there for Yash but it took off with MS Dhoni’s World Cup-winning six in 2011.

“Praveen Hinganikar’s (his first coach) cricket academy lived near our home and from his terrace, he used to watch the kids play cricket,” says Kajal.

Hinganikar, a former Vidarbha captain, recalls the first time he met Yash, who had come to the academy with wicketkeeping gloves and said he wanted to emulate Dhoni.

“He started as a keeper-batter and after a couple of games, one can tell that he was not good at it. I told him why don’t you bowl. He threw a bit of a tantrum like any 13-year-old, and said, ‘sir mujhe Dhoni banna hai (I want to become Dhoni)’, but thankfully he started bowling. He looked a natural,” says Hinganikar.

“But the Dhoni craze had swept him over. We had won the World Cup, every kid wanted to become like Dhoni. His father stepped in and told him ‘tu Dhoni ki tarah bowling mey finish kar (You finish the match like a bowler)'” he says.

In the video shared by the IPL media team, the youngster, who idolizes MS Dhoni said: “I am a big MS Dhoni fan and I want to win matches for my team in the death overs.”

Yash rose through Vidarbha’s age-group cricket and was even picked for India in 2016 for the U-19 Asia Cup. He was a member of Vidarbha’s Ranji Trophy-winning team in 2017-18 but missed the 2018 U-19 World Cup due to a back injury.

“He got the support of good people throughout his career. He worked with former India bowlers Subroto Banerjee and Paras Mhambrey at Vidarbha. The impact of Umesh (Yadav) has also been massive on him. Now, he is working with Morne Morkel at LSG. He trains hard, works really hard on his fitness,” says Hinganikar.

“He is a complete team man. He always bowls in the death overs in white-ball for Vidarbha. In the red-ball, he comes as a first change, where he bowls long spells,” he adds.

A thinking bowler

On Sunday, Yash showed he is a very shrewd pacer. He kept just two fielders on the leg side and Shubman Gill slapped him for a boundary. Undeterred, he bowled at the same channel and cleaned up Gill with a full pacy ball that angled in just a bit.

“We had two fielders on the leg side. So, we sort of knew that he (Gill) would try to make room. That was the best among the five,” Thakur said.

The Rashid Khan dismissal too was planned. “Rahul bhaiya told me to stick to my plans and that we will get a wicket that way. The mid-on and mid-off were up and I bowled the slower one to Rashid and it ballooned up in the air,” he said.

Back in Nagpur, Yash’s mother and sister, who have never watched him play live at a ground, are unable to decide if they should fly to Lucknow for his next home match or cheer from home.

“We don’t want to jinx him. Let him do well in the next match, then we will go,” says Yash’s mother.