Meet star player from Kohli’s RCB, is a truck driver’s son, was bought for Rs 52000000 at IPL 2026 mini auction

Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru are set to face Sunrisers Hyderabad in the opening game of IPL 2026 on Saturday.

IPL 2026: Royal Challengers Bengaluru became the most expensive team in the history of the Indian Premier League after it was bought for a record price of Rs 16,600 crore of $1.78 billion by Aditya Birla Group-led consortium on Tuesday. But RCB are not the only one who have hit the jackpot ahead of the IPL 2026 season, which begin on Saturday.

Madhya Pradesh’s Chhindwara district, Mangesh Yadav will join Kohli’s RCB team as they begin the defence of their IPL crown with a clash against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the opening match at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday. Mangesh comes from very humble beginnings and was signed up for a whopping price of Rs 5.2 crore at the IPL 2026 mini auction last year.

His father Ramavadh Yadav, who was a truck driver by profession, would work through the night, wondering how he would find money for his son’s dream. He invested everything he had on a boy who first played cricket in a small courtyard with his mother.

Reflecting on their financial woes, Mangesh’s father said, “I had to struggle a lot for money. Sometimes I couldn’t sleep at night, thinking about how I would raise money for him. The life of a truck driver is no life at all. You don’t have time to eat or bathe. When the truck is full, you worry about offloading, and when it’s empty, you have to worry about filling it up.”

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Mangesh Yadav picked by RCB at 5.20 Crores
– A talent to watch out for! pic.twitter.com/fl2CV3bxke
— RCBIANS OFFICIAL (@RcbianOfficial) December 16, 2025

The 23-year-old from Borgaon in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhindwara district grew up playing cricket in modest surroundings. It was his uncle who first spotted his potential at tennis ball tournaments and encouraged him to travel to Delhi to train under coach Phool Chand Sharma. The 23-year-old said, “If I am playing cricket today it is because of Phool Chand sir.

“When I went to Delhi, my father had given me Rs 24,000 with great difficulty. I don’t even know how that money got over in the first month.”

His father would often have to reach out to people close to him to arrange the money needed for Mangesh’s training. His coach Phool Chand Sharma said, “Mangesh was staying with someone in Delhi. I saw that he was a good bowler, but he didn’t even have enough to eat. I told him to come and stay at the hostel. That’s where his journey really began. I don’t care if someone has money or not. If the player is good, he can come, eat, stay, and practice.”

Mangesh also recalled a brief phase where he lost focus. “I had started becoming lazy. One day sir called me and told me to pack my bag and go home. After some time, I apologised and told him it wouldn’t happen again. Then I realised what I was missing and what I had. I looked at my family and thought, Dad is working so hard. Everyone is so dedicated for me.”

Determined to make the most of the opportunity, the young fast bowler threw himself back into the grind. He played in the DDCA league, local tournaments, and even made the Uttar Pradesh Under-19 camp, but the next step continued to elude him.

“There were times he would go all the way to a selection camp, and he would be told his name had been called by mistake. Those were the days I felt helpless, like I had made a grave mistake by giving my son this dream,” Mangesh’s father said.

The turning point came in the Madhya Pradesh T20 League, where Mangesh scalped 14 wickets in just six matches at a shrewd average of 12.00. After representing Madhya Pradesh in domestic cricket, where he shared the dressing room with RCB captain Rajat Patidar, the call he had been waiting for finally arrived from Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

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The Times Of Bengal