Borrowed money for IPL elective trials: Gorakhpur leg-spinner Vishal Nishad’s remarkable rise | Cricket News
LUCKNOW: When the IPL-2026 mini-auction was taking place in Abu Dhabi, right-leg spinner Vishal Nishad was watching at the Kamla Club in Kanpur, the Uttar Pradesh team’s camp for the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy. The screen felt personal: a choice from any franchise could change one’s life.Go beyond borders with our YouTube channel. REGISTER NOW!The first round sucked. “When I wasn’t sold, I was skeptical,” he said. Then the third round came and Punjab Kings lifted the paddle. “Punjab Kings bought me for Rs 30 lakh. It’s a life-changing moment for me,” Nishad told TOI.
Nishad’s path to this IPL slot began far, far away from the big city cricket stadiums, in Jangal Ayodhya Prasad village in the Khorabar police station area of Gorakhpur. “I used to play cricket with a tennis ball,” he said. That was until his friend Vineet Pandey advised him to practice with a leather ball instead. Nishad resisted for one reason: “I had no money. »Pandey refused to give up, spoke to a coach and Nishad found his way to the Sanskriti Cricket Academy in Gorakhpur. There, coach Kalyan Singh agreed to watch him play, of course charging a fee.Then the coach heard about the family’s financial difficulties and decided to change his mind. “When he learned about my poverty, he trained me for three years without taking any money,” said Nishad, who could not even afford a cricket kit. “I trained by borrowing kits, shoes and bats, from other players.”
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In 2024, the first hurdle arrived with the UP T20 League trials. A practice match in Noida involved a trip he could not afford. “I borrowed Rs 2,000 from my village friend and went to Noida and took three wickets in the first practice match.” He made the cut, stayed in camp and, on his UP T20 debut, took seven wickets in four matches for the Gorakhpur Lions. The following season brought six out of five.The IPL did not happen by chance. Nishad took part in trials, notably for Punjab Kings in Lucknow, and videos of his ‘mystery bowling’ began circulating among talent spotters of the franchise. Punjab Kings scout Ankit Rajpoot, who first saw him with Gorakhpur Lions, said: “He has great talent.”Back home, the auction price had weight. “My father is a carpenter and mason and works on a daily wage. Our family never thought that a child from our family would play IPL,” Nishad said. He knows the spotlight is still far away, but the door is open. “I will try to form an identity for myself if I get the chance.”
