Who is Lukman Meriwala? From a fabrication worker to making dream debut for Delhi Capitals

The Indian Premier League (IPL)'s tagline is 'Where talent meets opportunity' and every year there come stories of players belonging to humble backgrounds and the only thing that kept them going was their passion for the game. After Chetan Sakariya, it's another left-arm fast bowler from Gujarat, who made his debut in the IPL, Lukman Meriwala.

The 29-year old is coming from a successful season for Baroda in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, where he was the star for his side in their semi-final game against Punjab, where he picked up three wickets giving away just 28 runs. However, it hasn't been an easy ride for the left-armer, who was the leading wicket-taker for his side in the 2013/14 season which Baroda won.

Yes, at 29, Meriwala is a late bloomer but he surely has made everyone take notice. Meriwala had given up cricket to take up fabrication work in Sarnar village of Gujarat. However, he kept making attempts in cricket, even though he failed. However, the second attempt for the Makan-born bore fruit when he made his List A debut for Baroda in 2013.

Former India and Baroda all-rounder Irfan Pathan, who has seen Meriwala closely had said about him earlier that the pacer “has got decent zip and great control of his yorker, which makes him useful with the new ball as well as old.”

And Pathan's words proved to be true in the recent season of the domestic T20 competition, where Meriwala picked up 15 wickets. After the performances, Meriwala was bagged by the Delhi Capitals in the February player auction of the IPL and finally after featuring 44 T20 matches, he made his debut for the last year's runners-up who have one of the best pace attacks in the world with the likes of Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Ishant Sharma, Chris Woakes and Umesh Yadav in their ranks.

Meriwala's Baroda captain Krunal Pandya was delighted for the pacer to get picked in the IPL for the first time and his brother Hardik too wished the same for him. "Congratulations Lukman on getting picked in the @IPL. So happy for you! You’ve been consistent for Baroda the last few years and you deserve this. Good luck for the season," Krunal had written. And Hardik too said, "Very well deserved luki."

Very well deserved luki https://t.co/PEUx8a0wGu

— hardik pandya (@hardikpandya7) February 20, 2021