IPL 2021: From milk deliveries to IPL pacer, Vaibhav Arora's journey

A fan of Jasprit Bumrah, Vaibhav bowls regularly at 135 km per hour and is looking forward to sharing the KKR dressing room with the likes of Pat Cummins, Lockie Ferguson, Andre Russell and Eoin Morgan.

Ever since the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction on February 18, Harbans Milk Dairy, located in Punjabi Mohalla in Ambala Cantt has been buzzing. The owner of the dairy, Gopal Arora, does not tire of telling his customers that his son Vaibhav will be a part of the Shah Rukh Khan owned KKR squad in the upcoming IPL. Most of Arora's customers know Vaibhav well. The 23-year-old fast bowler, when not playing for Himachal Pradesh, can be seen working with his father at the dairy. Those days may get more and more infrequent now; Vaibhav was picked up for his base price of ₹20 lakh by KKR and immediately after that, the muscular pacer claimed his first hat-trick in his debut List-A match in Jaipur against Maharashtra in the ongoing Vijay Hazare trophy.

Himachal Pradesh captain Rishi Dhawan hands over cap to Vaibhav Arora (left) on his List-A debut against Maharashtra in Jaipur. (HT Photo)

“Last week has been a bit eventful for me," Vaibhav said. "First the IPL contract happened, then the hat-trick. I will always cherish my List-A debut game and keep the ball with me. The IPL opportunity is a huge thing for me. KKR is a top IPL team full of talented fast bowlers.”

Vaibhav caught the eye of KKR assistant coach Abhishek Nayar at the selection trials in Thane two weeks ago. The Himachal Pradesh cricketer also left a mark in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy earlier this year when he scalped 10 wickets in six matches. Himachal Pradesh lost to the eventual champions Tamil Nadu in the quarter-finals.

“It was my first time in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. I wanted to give my best and make an impression. And I am glad that I managed to do it,” said Vaibhav, who made his Ranji Trophy debut in 2019 for Himachal Pradesh against Saurashtra and scalped nine wickets in the match. His dismissals also included Cheteshwar Pujara’s wicket in the first innings.

When Vaibhav is at home, he helps his father to manage their cattle and also makes regular rounds on his bike delivering milk.

“I hope to do well in cricket and play for India one day," he said. "We live in a small house in a joint family. I want to buy a big house for my parents and tell them to relax while I work hard on my game and play at the top-level one day.”

Last year, Vaibhav was a net bowler for Kings XI Punjab (now called Punjab Kings) in Dubai.

“I will give my IPL contract money to my father as a gift. It is not much but he will be happy to take it. He is very excited. He was quite nervous sending me to Chandigarh when I was 14 to learn the sport. We did not have much money but my coaches and school helped.”

Despite doing well in junior cricket, Vaibhav could not cement his place in the Punjab teams, so he turned to Himachal Pradesh at 21 with the help of his coach Ravi Varma.

A fan of Jasprit Bumrah, Vaibhav bowls regularly at 135 km per hour and is looking forward to sharing the KKR dressing room with the likes of Pat Cummins, Lockie Ferguson, Andre Russell and Eoin Morgan.