While Indian and foreign cricketers have been sold for crores of rupees at the IPL auction 2018, there is one name -- Aryaman Birla -- that is doing its rounds on social media despite being sold for only Rs 30 lakh.
Aryaman is a son of Kumar Mangalam Birla, who is the chairman of the Aditya Birla Group has a net worth of $12.6 billion, as reported byForbes in a recent study.
Interestingly, Aryaman had gone unsold in the first round of bidding. However, in the second round, 20-year-old Aryaman was snapped up by the Rajasthan Royals against his base price of Rs 20 lakh.
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Despite being the Birla scion, Aryaman had opted for a career in cricket over the field of business started playing cricket in Mumbai before he shifted base to Madhya Pradesh.
Aryaman will have a chance to play under Australian captain Steve Smith, who is said to be world's best batsman at present, in a dressing room, England all-rounder Ben Stokes and Indian batsman Ajinkya Rahane.
"It's a great feeling. I'm so grateful to them for this opportunity. There's so much to learn from everyone in that dressing room. To be around that group will be a huge learning curve for me. I'm so looking forward to it. I'm going to work hard in the build-up to the opportunity," Aryaman told The Times of India from Nagpur, where he was with the Madhya Pradesh team for an U-23 One-day game against Chhattisgarh.
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Aryaman told the newspaper that he wasn't following the auctions. He learned from someone that RR picked him up.
“I was unwell since the last couple of days, so I didn't play today. I've been vomiting since the last two days due to a stomach infection," he added.
The youngster stole the spotlight with his brilliant 153-run knock against Odisha in the Under-23 Col CK Nayudu Trophy last year from which he emerged as the top-run scorer with 795 runs from six matches.
“Playing in Mumbai is a great learning process. Growing up with cricketers that I did, I learned a lot. Slogging it out in the Mumbai nets has been important not only for me, but it is so for every aspiring cricketer. And it’s not something I’ve had to do differently,” Aryaman told Deccan Chronical.
The cricketer also spoke candidly about his decision to move to Madhya Pradesh. “Obviously, it wasn’t easy moving away from home, but it’s a decision I’m glad I took. It was a calculated decision. The first two years weren’t easy at all, but I’ve gotten used to it now, and I love challenges. It has been different being away from home, but I take these things in my stride and move ahead.”
Mumbai coach Pravin Amre, who's also Aryaman's personal coach. recalled how Aryaman was the "most difficult challenge" of his coaching career.
"Aryaman came to meet me at Shivaji Park with his mom. I didn't take him into my academy because he was Kumaramanglam Birla's son, but because I was convinced that he had talent in him Since I've a reputation of coaching top cricketers, people thought that I was coaching him because he was Birla's son. But that wasn't the case. My forte is to coach players who've cricket in them," the 49-year-old told ToI.
