Mukul Choudhary‘s father always wanted to make his son a cricketer. Not only has the boy fulfilled his father’s dreams, after a magical night in IPL 2026, he has created a massive stir.
On Thursday night at Eden Gardens, Choudhary smashed 54 off 27 balls against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to give Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) an unlikely win. The inspiration? MS Dhoni. The evidence? The helicopter shot.
“I have practised that shot since childhood,” Choudhary said at the press conference after the win, referring to the shot he used to send Vaibhav Arora for six in the 17th over. “I always liked that, and the way Dhoni finished [an innings]. He used to hit a six even off a yorker. If you even hit that kind of a delivery for six, the bowler thinks about doing something different.”
With 54 runs needed from 24 deliveries, and with LSG seven down, Choudhary had only the tail for company. Despite starting with only one run off his first five deliveries, Choudhary bashed another 53 off the next 22. That included cracking seven sixes, to go with just two fours.
“My body is a little powerful, and that has come to me naturally,” he said of his six-hitting ability. “I also practice hitting 100-150 sixes every day, so the bat speed develops if you keep doing it. I have been practicing a lot for the last five to six months, so it has come into my game.”
Choudhary had given notice of his talent at the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025-26. He crashed 62* off just 26 balls with seven sixes for Rajasthan against Delhi, taking his side home in a chase of 176. He recalled hitting his LSG team-mate Ayush Badoni for a six to seal that match with a six. Choudhary ended that competition with 173 runs at an average of 57.66 and a strike rate of 198.85.
That was enough for LSG to shell out INR 2.6 crore for him, and for his LSG coach Justin Langer to say he could turn Choudhary into “the scariest No. 6 or No. 7 batter in India” in four months’ time.
“When a big coach like him says something like that about you, I’m sure he has seen something in you,” Choudhary said of the motivation he drew from Langer’s words. “He showed faith in me, so it was my time to repay it. During practice, he spends 10-15 minutes exclusively with me every day. Whatever he taught me turned out to be helpful. So I just did my job after he trusted me to do it.”
Speaking to the host broadcaster after Choudhary fashioned LSG’s come-from-behind win, Langer said he believed Choudhary could reach even greater heights.
“He’s so young, and he’s got that look in his eyes. He’s hungry,” Langer said. “You know when you first come in, you try so hard, and [this victory will] just be a massive moment in his life and his career.”
