ICC ODI World Cup: Food delivery boy to bowl in nets for the Netherlands

CHENNAI: On Monday, Lokesh Kumar was going about his business as a Swiggy food delivery executive in Chennai. About 48 hours later, the 29-year-old finds himself a part of the Netherlands support-staff as a net bowler, trying to help the minnows prepare against spin in their pre World Cup camp in Alur.
Lokesh, who has been working in the food delivery industry since 2018, was on Tuesday hand-picked as one of the four net bowlers by the Dutch side that had advertised for the role on social media.
A leftarm pacer-turned-chinaman, Lokesh was selected after the Netherlands management assessed about 10,000 bowlers from India, who had sent their entries by uploading videos on a mobile application.

“This is one of the most precious moments of my career. I am yet to even play in the TNCA third division league. I played in the fifth division for four years and I have registered for fourth-division outfit Indian Oil (RO) S&RC for the ongoing season. After being picked by the Netherlands as a net bowler, I feel that my talent has finally been recognised,” Lokesh, who joined the Dutch camp on Wednesday, told TOI.
“The Netherlands team members welcomed me with open arms; there was an induction ceremony for the net bowlers before the beginning of the session. The players told us: ‘feel free, this is your team’. I already feel that I am part of the Dutch family,” Lokesh added.
Lokesh said he was confident that he would make the cut for the camp.
“After seeing the advertisement, I was keen to give it a try. I felt that I would have an edge over others as there are not many chinaman bowlers in the country. Netherlands were looking for a mystery spinner. So, I decided to give it a try.” Lokesh said that working as a food delivery executive has been indirectly helping him grow as a cricketer.

“After my college days, my entire focus was on cricket. I spent four years on cricket. In 2018, I decided to take up a job. I have been with Swiggy for the last four years. I earn money only by delivering food; I do not have any other source of income. The work timings are flexible and I can take leave whenever I want to. We usually have TNCA league matches only on the weekends, so I work during the weekdays,” said Lokesh.