City’s Manvanth Kumar drafted to Delhi Capitals; becomes first player from Mysuru Zone to play IPL

By S.N. Venkatnag Sobers

Mysuru: The dream of any budding cricketer is to put on the ‘Blue Jersey’ and play for the Indian Cricket Team in international tournaments but now there is another dream too, to be part of the biggest T20 bash — Indian Premier League (IPL). A young cricketer from Mysuru has just realised this dream.

L. Manvanth Kumar, 20-year- old cricketer, who represents city’s RBNCC (Rao Bahadur Narasappa Cricket Club) team in local leagues and the State cricket team in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Cricket Tournament, was picked up by IPL franchise Delhi Capitals, during the players auction for the upcoming 2025 season held at Jeddah in Saudi yesterday for a base price of  Rs. 30 lakh.

With this selection, Manvanth becomes the first player from Mysuru Zone to play the premier tournament.                             

Earlier, J. Suchith, who is a native of Mysuru, played for Mumbai Indians, but had shifted his base to Bengaluru.

Manvanth, who is an all-rounder (left hand batter and right arm medium fast bowler), got inspired by his elder brother L. Hemanth Kumar, an opening right hand batter, who also represented Mysuru Zone U-19 and U-23 teams.

At 12 years, Manvanth got his first exposure to cricket at the MUCSC (Mysore University Colleges Sports Council) team, which practiced at Maharaja’s College Grounds.

After the retirement of cricket coach Mansoor Ahmed, Manvanth joined the Games Cricket Academy in Vijayanagar in 2019 and plays for RBNCC. His passion for cricket helped him flourish as he was drafted to Karnataka State U-19 team in 2022 and State U-23 team in 2023 and 2024. Currently, Manvanth is also a part of Karnataka State Team taking part in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Tournament.

Manvanth, who represented the Hubli Tigers in Maharaja Trophy, organised by Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), picked up 22 wickets in the tournament held during 2023 and 16 wickets in 2024 season. He was declared the Emerging Player of Tournament and is also the Purple Cap holder for 2023.

Speaking to Star of Mysore, Manvanth said it was a dream come true and added that he would put all his efforts to make Mysuru, Karnataka and his franchise proud in the upcoming IPL season.

“I would also like to thank my team RBNCC for guiding me all throughout. Special thanks to Balachandar Sir, Ravindra Sir and Pavan Sir for their encouragement,” he added.

Manvanth’s family resides at J.P. Nagar in Mysuru. S. Lakshmi Kumar, his father, works as driver for Dr. Bhanuprakash Sharma, noted astrologer in Srirangapatna.  Earlier, he worked as driver with Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) before resigning the job five years back. R. Sridevi Kumar, his mother, is a home-maker.

The family members were elated on watching Manvanth being drafted to Delhi Capitals. Speaking to SOM, Manvanth’s father Lakshmi Kumar said, “It is a joyous moment for the entire family. We thought he would not be picked up this year, but the Delhi Capitals drafted him to their team and we are very happy. I would like to give credit all his coaches including S. Balachandar, M.S. Ravindra, K.R. Pavan and Nirmith Nithyanand for guiding him. I would also like to thank his earlier coaches Rajath and Arun, who were part of MUCSC team.”

Chairman of KSCA Mysuru Zone S. Balachandar, also the Secretary of RBNCC, who congratulated Manvanth for his remarkable achievement, wished him success and hoped he would climb the ladder further up to achieve more success.

“Manvanth joined our team at the age of 16 years. Since then, he has been working hard day-in and day-out as a result of which he has been representing the State in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Tournament. We are very happy that he has been representing RBNCC which has fostered many talented cricketers such as Nikin Jose, who is a part of Karnataka Ranji team. We at RBNCC only wish that Manvanth also grows up to reach great heights in cricket”, said Balachandar.

KSCA Mysuru Zone Convenor R.K. Harikrishna Kumar said, it was a proud moment for Mysuru Zone and remarkable achievement for Manvanth. “We were expecting another player L.R. Chethan, other players from Mysuru, to be picked up by another of the franchises but it did not happen. However, Manvanth being drafted by Delhi Capitals is great news. We hope he does well in IPL and in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Tournament,” he added.