Tejaswi Yadav, average cricketer but total team man

The rise of cricketer-turned-politician Tejaswi Yadav has been incredible. Once a promising off-spinner, the 26-year-old son of former Bihar chief ministers Lalu Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi has all the ingredients to become a successful politician.

Born on November 9, 1989 in Patna, he was merely 11 when brought to senior coach MP Singh for cricket training at the National Stadium here.

A student of DPS, Mathura Road, Tejaswi was quiet by nature and was constantly followed by a posse of Bihar policemen and those who met him say he was never arrogant.

"Though he is son of a high-profile politician like Lalu Prasad Yadav, I never got a complaint against him during all those years that he was training here," Singh remembered his former pupil on a day when Tejaswi was sworn in as the youngest cabinet minister in the Bihar government.

"He was not just a well-behaved student of the game but was also down-to-earth."

Singh added, "In fact, he used to ask his security guards to stay away from the playing field so other boys do not get distracted. He came as a politician's son but went on to play Under-15 and -17 for a team like Delhi on sheer merit."

The youngest of nine brothers and sisters, no one really remembers how and when Tejaswi left his studies after Class 9. The issue came in the public domain when he submitted an affidavit to Election Commission while filing of nomination papers from Mahua assembly seat.

There was not a single instance in coach Singh's life when Lalu Yadav actually came and inquired about his son's cricketing progress. In fact, it was all left to Tejaswi's eldest sister Misa Bharti.

"I met Laluji a couple of times but that was during family functions. But he never discussed cricket or his son with me. In fact, when our team went for a 15-day long tour to Chicago, Tejaswi impressed everyone with his co-operation and performances there," said Singh.

There were only two occasions when his Delhi Blues' skipper Vivek Razdan, a former India speedster, had to say something to him. Razdan once sternly told him to crop his long hair, which he did without a fuss. On another occasion, his skipper pulled him up for not eating with the rest of the team after he had taken a teammate for lunch in his car.

Tejaswi apologised and made amends the next time. He understood the rules clearly that there was no discrimination or favouritism in selection in his club team.

Though Tejaswi was performing at every age-level cricket tournament, he did not get a chance from Delhi to be a part of their Ranji Trophy team. This was, according to many insiders in Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA), due to his political background.

This was not all. The rising son of Bihar did finally make his debut for Jharkhand in the only Ranji Trophy game of his career. Paltry scores of 1 and 19 in the two innings and no wicket to his credit were not enough to keep him in the remaining matches and his career wrapped up rather quickly.

The only time politics could have actually helped him in his career was when he was seen sitting along with the big names of world cricket in the Delhi Daredevils dugout from 2008 to 2012.