A 29-year-old delivery person from Chennai has been selected as one of the net-bowlers for the Netherlands cricket team in their pre-World Cup camp in Alur, Karnataka. Lokesh Kumar, who has been working as a food delivery executive with Swiggy since 2018 while playing in the lower divisions in Tamil Nadu, was shortlisted and selected from 10,000 bowlers from across India.
The Netherlands team had sought four bowlers, including one left-arm seamer, right arm seamer, mystery spinner, and a left-arm spinner for their pre-world cup camp. A mobile application was introduced where interested bowlers were asked to upload videos of themselves. Lokesh, a left-arm pacer turned chinaman, qualified for the mystery spinner spot and will be bowling for the squad led by Australian Scott Edwards. According to media reports, Lokesh played in the fifth division for four years starting 2018 and had registered to play in fourth-division for the on-going season. He dreams to don the yellow jersey and play for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Conventionally, net-bowlers for visiting teams are provided by the respective state cricket associations (Karnataka State Cricket Association in this case). The Dutch cricket board’s initiative to shortlist bowlers through a mobile application is the first of its kind.
India is hosting World Cup 2023, with 10 teams competing in the One Day International (ODI) format, between October 5 and November 19.