Tejasvi Dahiya: Son of school teachers, hits sixes for fun; bags Rs 3 crore KKR deal

NEW DELHI: Tejasvi Singh Dahiya was shattered aft his sanction came up doubly astatine the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction past year, lone to find nary bidders.A disappointed Dahiya past received a telephone from his manager Sanjay Bharadwaj — a hard taskmaster and 1 of the doyens of the home circuit, who has coached the likes of Gautam Gambhir, Amit Mishra, Joginder Sharma, Unmukt Chand, Nitish Rana and Priyansh Arya.

Bharadwaj asked him to publication a bid summons to Bhopal, wherever the Dronacharya Awardee runs a ‘gurukul’-style coaching setup successful the mediate of a forest.

“I was unhappy aft going unsold. When my sanction came up successful the accelerated round, I was hopeful. But erstwhile nary 1 lifted the paddle for me, I was shattered from inside,” Dahiya tells TimesofIndia.com successful an exclusive interview.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Moving to Bhopal, wherever helium had lived successful the caller past, was not easy.

“Bharadwaj sir adjacent takes distant our phones. There is lone 1 hr of entertainment, during which we get our mobiles to speech to our parents,” helium says.The 23-year-old turns philosophical and adds, “If you privation to execute something, you person to sacrifice a lot. This is what I judge in.”Dahiya, who changeable to fame with his exploits successful the Delhi Premier League (DPL), was sold to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for Rs3 crore — 10 times his basal terms of Rs30 lakh.

Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals (RR) were progressive successful a bidding conflict for the Delhi wicketkeeper-batter.

“What Gauti (Gautam Gambhir) bhai did with KKR, I privation to repetition that,” says Dahiya.Dahiya was the starring six-hitter successful the DPL, smashing 29 sixes and amassing 339 runs astatine a onslaught complaint of 190.44.“He has that attacking mindset. He has ever been similar this. He and Priyansh (Arya) utilized to get into six-hitting competitions astatine the LB Shastri Academy,” says Bharadwaj.“When I saw him bat for the archetypal time, I imagined the full picture. Mujhe lag gaya ki ek heera haath aa gaya hai (I realised I had recovered a diamond). At 16, I made him the skipper of LB Shastri. He has a mature caput connected his shoulders. Since helium keeps wickets arsenic well, helium understands and reads the crippled truly well,” adds the coach.But the travel wasn’t casual for Dahiya. He comes from a household of teachers. His father, Ravindra Singh Dahiya, is simply a maths teacher, portion his mother, Babita Dahiya, is an economics teacher successful a Delhi authorities school.“Na unko yakeen ho raha hai, na main digest kar pa raha hoon (Neither my parents nor I tin judge it),” says Dahiya.

“Barring Gujarat Titans, Punjab Kings and Lucknow Super Giants, I went for trials with each the different teams. But I wasn’t definite due to the fact that of what happened past year,” helium adds.Growing up, Dahiya looked up to Virender Sehwag, MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli.“I loved the attacking intent of Viru sir, the six-hitting and keeping of MS, and the subject of Virat bhai,” helium says.Dahiya says helium is anxious to play successful the IPL and amusement the satellite what helium tin do.“Hum toh Delhi se hain aur hum jaan laga ke khelte hain (I americium from Delhi, and we play with afloat intensity),” says Dahiya.

Meanwhile, manager Bharadwaj says helium is excited for his ward but cautions him against reckless shot-making aboriginal on.

“Kids these days spell for a first-ball six — there’s a bravado I don’t like. I deliberation helium tin person a bully play and mightiness extremity up playing each the matches, but helium needs to marque it count,” says Bharadwaj.