Team India pacer Tushar Deshpande has made a revelation on how he started his cricket journey after the IPL 2025 season. He appeared on veteran batter Ajinkya Rahane’s YouTube channel.
Tushar revealed that he started his journey as a left-handed hitter. The right-arm pacer said his coach and father wanted him to groom him and prepare him as an all-rounder. He recalled a memory of an under-12 selection trial, where he played simply because there were too many players in line to bat. It was from there that he began his journey as a race leader.
“When I started, I was a left-handed hitter. But after a few years, there was a selection of boys under 12. There were about 70 people in the queue turning up for batting. And now that we had come this far, how could we go home without trying anything. My father told me that you are batting, we will see bowling later. But I spoke to my friends and we decided to stay for the trials. He There were barely 15 to 20 people in line for bowling. I bowled one or two balls and they said I should stay away. And that’s where my journey as a bowler started,” he said.
The Indian quick also revealed that Australian legend Brett Lee was his role model growing up. He added that his father asked him to be like the legendary West Indian fast bowling quartet that included Malcolm Marshall. Tushar also said that he copied the batting style of the legendary Australian opening pair.
“I’ve seen a lot of Brett Lee’s bowling since I was a kid. My dad used to tell me that you have to be like the West Indies quartet if you want to be a fast bowler. Malcom Marshal and all those four dangerous bowlers. The only thing was to bowl fast. I also copied a lot of Gilchrist and Hayden’s batting. My batting style comes from that a bit.”
The 30-year-old has played only two T20Is for India so far. He made his debut against Zimbabwe in 2024 and played one more match in the same series. Tushar has two wickets at an average of 27.50 and an economy of 9.16.
Indian team pacer gains recognition playing Ranji Trophy
Tushar Deshpnade had been playing age-group cricket for Mumbai for a long time. However, the Indian pacer revealed that he felt that only playing the Ranji Trophy for Mumbai would get him recognition.
He remembers watching Mumbai’s senior players and the logo that inspired him to play in India’s first national tournament.
“When I was selected at Shivaji Park Gymkhana, all the current Mumbai Ranji Trophy players came to train. When I looked at the Mumbai logo, I felt it had a different class. Then I started thinking that I should also achieve this. I thought people would recognize me only when I played Ranji Trophy for Mumbai. Then I could say that I have accomplished something,” he said.
Tushar then made his Ranji Trophy debut in the 2016 season against Tamil Nadu. He took four wickets in the first innings as Mumbai eventually won the match by two wickets.
The left-arm quick has played 39 first-class matches so far. He picked up 104 wickets at an average of 29.67. He also scored 562 runs, including a century and a half.
Edited by Rishab Vm
