Shashikant Kumar Kushagra doesn’t recall his son Kumar Kushagra showing any interest in cricket. But for Shashikant, who is the joint commissioner (GST) in Jamshedpur, the choice was simply straightforward. Not because he had an unfilled cricketing dream. Or he saw a spark in his son. But 15 years ago he had seen what the game had done to a certain MS Dhoni. “If you see the world, everything is in cricket — fame, name, good lifestyle. Everything you could ask for is there in cricket. So, I thought we must create some new things in life,” Shashikant tells The Indian Express.So at 6, Shashikant would start handing Kumar cricketing lessons. Despite coming from a well-to-do family, the father did not enroll his son in a cricket academy. Instead, he — without any background in the game — would take up the role of a coach with single objective of making his son earn the India cap. And 15 years on, that dream is closer to reality with Kumar making his maiden India call-up for the upcoming tour of New Zealand, where he has been named in the ODI squad for the last two fixtures.“It is a puzzle for me all these years,” Shashikant says. “Kumar had no interest in cricket. But I made him play. At times while growing up, he wouldn’t even listen, but I would force him, saying, ‘You have to play by any means’. That’s how he used to bat. I never played cricket in my life. I hadn’t even touched a bat, nor touched a ball. But my intention was that we have to do such a thing in the world where people would look at us. Even if he wasn’t interested, we still wanted to make him a cricketer and I knew how to make him one,” Shashikant adds.Before handing Kumar his cricketing lessons, Shashikant had to learn it all. He would study coaching manuals and also read books written by Bob Woolmer and Don Bradman to understand the nuances of batting. Every shot would be written down in the simple way that would allow the father and son to crack it. “I never sent him to any academy, because it just takes a lot of time away from you. We thought that since we have to make him succeed very quickly, we ourselves read all the books. I read all the big cricketers’ books, also those of Bob Woolmer and also whatever other books there were. We extracted points and worked out every shot, how this shot happens, how that shot happens. When it came to pull shot, we would write down the different ways to play it and similarly for the drives,” Shashikant says.Shashikant also picked up a very important lesson from historian Romila Thapar. “I studied from JNU. I did my MA from there, and Romila Thapar used to teach and put a lot of emphasis on thorough research. I used to enjoy a lot. So we brought that same structure here into cricket too — that we have to do research, how things happen, where the hand should stay, where the finger should stay, the wrist position. Since we did extensive research on what works and what doesn’t, he now knows his game.” Jharkhand wicketkeeper-batsman Kumar Kushagra with his family. (Special arrangement)Apart from reading, the video tutorials would involve batting highlights of Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag. At the nets, Shashikant would ensure his son received enough throwdowns – be it fast or facing spin, he would deliver it all. “I learned bowling, and we used to make him play. Even today he learns from me. He doesn’t go anywhere; he comes to me and plays with me even at night, day, or anytime, because I know about his game more than anyone else.”Kumar’s rise has been steady in Jharkhand. From the time he attended Under-14 trails, he hasn’t looked back, making the gradual progression across age-groups, where his attacking game has stood out. At 19, he was made part of Centre of Excellence’s target pool, a call-up to India A arrived in 2024 when he had just became an integral member of Jharkhand team. Then Delhi Capitals signed him up for Rs 7.2 crore at the IPL auctions before Gujarat Titans acquired him for Rs 65 lakh last season. All of it is a vindication to Kumar’s talent and also his strong basics that allows him to shuffle between formats effortlessly.Story continues below this adAlongside batting, wicketkeeping happened to be a by-product achieved while trying to unlock fear. “Though I coached him, he still had a bit of fear in him. We made him do wicketkeeping at the age of 12 with Ranji players, so that fear would vanish. I would make him stand-up to the stumps to the fast bowlers. Even if he got hit, I would tell him ‘It is not going to be the end of life’. Like batting he didn’t like it, but eventually learned. I would say once he started going to NCA only and saw the cricketers and their life, he started getting serious about the game. Now the boy is very motivated,” Shashikant says.