- This son of a farmer came from an obscure village Sahaspur in Uttar Pradesh which had no grounds, only mud fields and still gets electricity only for eight hours a day.
- At the age of 15, landed in Kolkata alone and slept inside a club tent on the vast Kolkata Maidan.
- Rose through hard work. He used to take a new ball at the beginning of the net session, and finish with the last ball, from 1 pm to 4 pm.
- On his ODI debut, he bowled a record four maiden overs and in his Test debut took 4 wickets in the first innings and 5 wickets in the second!
- Played the World Cup 2015 through pain and injury. He would have fluids sucked out of his knee and practice on the day before the match.
- He still ended up as India’s second-highest wicket-taker at the World Cup, with 17 wickets at 17.29 and an economy rate of 4.81.
- Later he had surgery which put him on bed and then he hobbled around in crutches while his wife was pregnant.
- While he was playing in the recent 2nd Test against New Zealand, his 14-month old daughter Aira had been hospitalised and was in the Intensive Care Unit on the last two days of the Test. She had high fever and trouble breathing.
- After each match day, he would rush to the city hospital to be with his daughter. On the following morning, he would be back fielding or steaming in to bowl. He still bowled 18 overs in both innings picking up 3 wickets in each innings with his lethal reverse swing.
