Team India pacer Tushar Deshpande opened up about the early days of his cricketing journey following the IPL 2025 season. Speaking on veteran batter Ajinkya Rahane’s YouTube channel, Deshpande revealed that he initially started out as a left-handed batter. However, his coach and father encouraged him to take up bowling and develop as an all-rounder.
He fondly recalled an incident from his Under-12 selection trials, where he decided to bowl simply because there were too many players waiting for their turn to bat. That moment turned out to be the starting point of his journey as a pace bowler.
“When I started I was a left-hand batter. But after a few years, there was an Under-12 boys selection. There were about 70 people in the line standing for batting. And now that we had come this far, how could we go home without trying anything. My father told me you do batting, we will see bowling later.”
“But I spoke to my friends and we decided to stay for trials. There were hardly 15-20 people in the line for bowling. I bowled one or two balls and they told me to stand in the side. And from there my journey started as a bowler,” he said.
The Indian fast bowler further shared that Australian great Brett Lee was his childhood idol. He mentioned that his father encouraged him to emulate the iconic West Indian fast-bowling quartet, which featured legends like Malcolm Marshall. Tushar also revealed that he used to imitate the batting techniques of Australia’s legendary opening duo.
“I have seen a lot of Brett Lee’s bowling since childhood. My father used to tell me you should 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 Gilchrist and Hayden a lot in batting. My batting style comes a bit from there.”
Team India pacer shares how playing Ranji Trophy earned him recognition
Tushar Deshpande had represented Mumbai in various age-group levels for several years, but the Indian pacer admitted that he always felt true recognition would come only after featuring in the Ranji Trophy. He reminisced about observing senior Mumbai players and shared how the iconic Mumbai logo motivated him to pursue his dream of playing in India’s top domestic competition.
“When I was selected at the Shivaji Park Gymkhana, all the current Mumbai Ranji Trophy players would come to practice. When I used to look at the Mumbai logo, I felt it had a different class. Then I started thinking I should also achieve this. I felt people would only recognize me when I played the Ranji Trophy for Mumbai. Then I could say I have achieved something,” he said.
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