IPL 2020 | I'm realizing my dream now, exclaims Digvijay Deshmukh
21-year-old Digvijay Deshmukh, who is one of Mumbai Indians’ latest addition from the recently-concluded IPL auction for the 2020 season, says that he is slowly realising his dream. The Pune-based youngster first came into public attention as Ali in the 2013 Bollywood film 'Kai Po Che.'Â
Remember the child star who loved playing marbles and hit sixes for fun on reel? The same boy, Digvijay, was picked up at the IPL auction on Thursday by the defending champions Mumbai Indians for Rs 20 lakh.Â
"Yes, I am Digvijay and I acted as Ali in that movie Kai Po Che. But I was never an actor and always a cricketer. Now I am slowly realising my dream. I had gone to play an U-14 school tournament in Mumbai and one of the ADs (assistant director) of the film selected me for audition and then I got the role. Everyone was very nice. I remember playing a lot of cricket with Sushant (Singh Rajput) and Rajkumar Rao," Digvijay told PTI.Â
"I did Kai Po Che because a lot of scenes were just about playing cricket. But staying outdoors for four months hampered my cricket and I didn't want that to happen ever again. I got an opportunity to do a television commercial (advertisement) but I declined. My parents (father a school teacher and mother a homemaker) also supported me. I didn't want the focus to waver from the game," he said.
The four-time champions were impressed by his steady show for Maharashtra in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy where he got 9 wickets in seven games. And as if to celebrate his first IPL call-up, Digvijay went on to pick up six wickets and scored 83 in Maharashtra's second innings on his Ranji Trophy debut against Jammu and Kashmir. The youngster, who came through the ranks in the U-23 CK Nayudu trophy, thanked his coaches and stated his desire to play all formats for his state team.
"Right now, I am getting a lot of guidance from Surendra Bhave sir, our Ranji team coach. As far as my childhood coaches are concerned, there have been a few people who have helped me. If I name one particular, someone else might get annoyed,” he said
"I have no preference. I have just played a Ranji Trophy game and I want to play across all formats for my state team. I can't talk about Mumbai Indians for the next two months as that's an instruction from the franchise. Please excuse me on that front," Digvijay added.