Top News

Typically, when an aspiring male cricketer shares his story involving Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, or Rohit Sharma, the focus often shifts to the stars themselves—their priceless guidance, inspiring mindset, and surprisingly humble nature.

In 2017, the Indian team touched down at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur for the fifth ODI against Australia. Mokhade, a regular volunteer at local matches, was growing weary of his ball-boy role—particularly during Tests on a spinner-friendly pitch where fielders stayed cramped in, and the ball seldom made it past the boundary ropes.

“I wanted to meet them, but the coach said the team only needed bowlers in nets," Mokhade tells News18 CricketNext over the phone. “I said, ‘No, sir, please put me in as a bowler. I will bowl and just see their routine before a game, how they practice.’… I knew if I could get a chance as a net bowler, I would get to be around them for two to three days of practice. That’s what I did."

If you’ve kept up with domestic cricket over the past year, you’d know Mokhade as a technically gifted batter with an impressive array of shots. But that’s not all—he also bowls off-spin and leg-spin, keeps wickets, and proudly calls himself an ‘enthu cutlet’. This is his story.

Growing up in Nagpur, Mokhade was rarely at home. Most of his time was spent on the ground in front of his house, playing tennis-ball cricket with his father, Ravindra.

Ravindra, who had once dreamed of playing professional cricket himself, noticed his son’s talent and enrolled him in a cricket academy around the age of 10. There, Mokhade met coach Nitin Kanade, who helped him master the fundamentals.

Aman recalls:

“I wasn’t even familiar with the concept of pads. On the first day, I just took a bat and went because that’s what I used to do at the ground near my house. I was so excited to play that I did fielding for two hours. But my mind was on the nets nearby. At the end, I asked him, ‘Sir, I have a bat, can I bat too?’ ‘You don’t have pads.’ So he arranged someone’s pads and gave them to me."

As one of the youngest in the academy, Mokhade spent his first couple of years mainly fast-bowling, since he rarely got a chance to bat. Gradually, he learned the nuances of the red ball, discovered his natural swing, and even began to enjoy bowling.

Also read | "Not feeling respected.." Yuvraj Singh shares light on the last phase of his career

Mokhade remembers:

“One day, I told my dad, ‘I will be a fast bowler’. He just said, ‘Do whatever you want, but you’ll be a batter one day. Tu batsman hi banega (You will become a batter).’"

Ravindra was right.

Mokhade’s coaches recognized his potential early in the age-group levels and appointed him team captain. The added responsibility motivated him to improve his batting, and as the coaches took notice, they gradually promoted him up the order, turning batting into more than just a secondary skill.

He says, adding that he still considers himself a proper all-rounder:

“I’m kind of an enthu cutlet, I want to bowl, I want to bat, I want to do everything when I am on the field. Off-spin, leg-spin, I can do both… I’ve even done wicket-keeping in a match! Once, we were playing a three-day match, and nothing was happening for the bowlers, so I asked our keeper if I could keep for a session. I did that too."

He says, laughing:

“They wanted to face spinners only, so I bowled spin. Virat bhaiya… he was batting a lot against the side-arm. I was just watching from the side nets. Eventually, he came and faced a couple of balls and went off. The wicket wasn’t that good."

While it was Ravindra who kick-started his cricketing journey, Mokhade says his mother, Manisha, has witnessed his most vulnerable moments through the inevitable highs and lows of a professional cricketer’s life. With Ravindra often away at his private job, Manisha set aside her own worries to keep encouraging and motivating him.

He says:

“I was fortunate to get that opportunity. I learned what kind of players are at this level, the mentality, how they score runs, and what’s required to perform. I was still playing age-group cricket at that time, so I was able to implement those learnings when I went back. Even if I didn’t get a chance here, I tried to apply those things in U-25 cricket, how to take responsibility, how to finish games when you are the only batter left, how to play the big innings when you’re set, how to get a start, and how to bat in different situations."

Later that same year, he emerged as VCA’s leading run-scorer in the Under-25 State A Trophy (List-A), amassing 396 runs in seven matches at an impressive average of 96.25.

He kept up his performance over the following years. In the 2024 Col. CK Nayudu Trophy (red-ball), he tallied 670 runs—including a double century—at an average of 55.83, securing his spot again ahead of last year’s Ranji Trophy.

He says:

“I kept myself motivated. At the end of the day, you only have to look after everything."

Everything came together perfectly in the Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT), the 50-over tournament. Mokhade blasted 643 runs in his first eight innings, propelling Vidarbha to the semi-finals of a competition they had never won before.