IPL 2022: From Gorakhpur to the IPL - The story of Rajasthan Royals' new recruit Anunay Singh

Rajasthan Royals' new medium pace recruit Anunay Singh was in Gorakhpur (in Uttar Pradesh) at the time of the last player auction. He was sitting with his father AN Singh, a retired-UP Policeman, and was watching the auction. FOLLOWING THE IPL AUCTION ON TVThe 29-year-old Anunay, who has represented Bihar in 1 first-class, 8 List A, and 1 T20 match in his career so far, was nervous and made several calls to his coach Jwala Singh to ask him the same question - 'sir, will I be picked? If not, please ask them to make me a net bowler at least'. Jwala, who is a renowned name in the coaching circuit and helped shape the careers of the likes of Prithvi Shaw and Yashasvi Jaiswal, gave him confidence and said ' stay calm, let your name come up'.

When his name was called by the auctioneer, an anxious Anunay called Jwala again and the coach could clearly hear the happiness in his ward's voice. Anunay was picked up for Rs. 20 lakh (his base price) by the Rajasthan Royals, making him officially the first cricketer from Bihar to get an IPL contract. "I am looking forward to sharing the dressing room with Sanju Samson (RR captain). He is a very calm and composed player. He is very chilled out and relaxed. I want to pick up that quality from him. I want to talk to him as much as I can and learn as much as possible. I am grateful that I will be able to get tips from bowling coach Lasith Malinga sir. I am looking forward to learning a lot from him," Anunay told TimesofIndia.com in an exclusive interview. BOWLING TO YASHASVI JAISWAL DURING THE PANDEMIC AND IPL CONTRACTYashasvi Jaiswal, who was retained by RR ahead of the last player auction, didn't have a good IPL season last year. He played 10 matches and scored 249 runs at an average of