Indian Cricketers Who Battled Poverty Before Making It Big: It is a common belief that cricket is a religion in India. The Indian cricketers have a massive fan following that is equivalent to the Bollywood celebrities. Because of their fame, they receive lucrative brand endorsement deals from the companies. Also, the BCCI provides them with excellent contracts that give their bank balances an enormous boost every year.
Talking about the cricketers, a majority of the Indian team players had a poor background. Their families found it tough to make both ends meet in their childhood, but now these players are super-rich. Here’s a list of the five cricketers who became super-rich after playing for India.
Ravindra Jadeja
Many cricket fans would be aware of the fact that the Indian all-rounder, Ravindra Jadeja, had a rough childhood as his father was a security guard while his mother was a nurse. They lived in government quarters, but because of his hard work and determination, Jadeja has become one of the best all-rounders on the planet, and now, everyone knows about his net worth, house, and other properties.
MS Dhoni
Another Chennai Super Kings player to feature on this list is the former Indian skipper, Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The right-handed batsman from Ranchi showed his journey to the world through the movie MS Dhoni: The Untold Story. The 2011 World Cup-winning captain had a tough ride as his father was a pitch curator, who wished that his son becomes a ticket collector. To make ends meet, Dhoni even worked in the railways, but ultimately, he made it big in the world of cricket.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar
The Uttar Pradesh-based fast bowler, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, had disclosed it in one of his interviews that he did not have proper shoes to play cricket. However, his father and his sister kept on backing him, and now, he is one of the best pacers of the world. He earns a stupendous amount of money from his central contract. Besides, his IPL franchise, Sunrisers Hyderabad, has retained him for a massive sum.
Umesh Yadav
Royal Challengers Bangalore fast bowler, Umesh Yadav, is gearing up to make a comeback to the Indian cricket team. Because of his tough childhood, he would know the art of never giving up. Umesh’s father was a coal miner who struggled to provide proper food to his family. Still, his son fulfilled his dream of representing the nation on the cricket field.
Munaf Patel
A member of India’s 2011 World Cup-winning squad, Munaf Patel hails from a low-income family of Baroda. His father did not have his land. Hence, he had to work on someone else’s farm. As the family faced many difficulties, his relatives asked Munaf to join his father. But, he took the other route, and became a cricketer, earning crores of rupees with his fast bowling skills.
Harbhajan Singh
Harbhajan Singh is one of the most successful Indian bowlers of all time, across all three formats of the game. However, Bhajji had to battle poverty before making it big at the international level. Once Virender Sehwag revealed, that because of the financial conditions of the family Harbhajan Singh thought of becoming a truck driver. But, he managed to fight that face and achieve the stardom that he has.
Irfan Pathan and Yusuf Pathan
Pathan brothers’ father used to work for a mere salary of Rs.250 before the started playing for India. To make the dreams of his Pathan brothers alive, he used to buy torn shoes for them and used to stitch them so that his son can wear the shoes. Pathan bros have come a long way and made their father and India proud.
