"He Hits Everywhere" — Arjun Tendulkar Saw It Coming. KKR Didn't Listen and Paid the Price

Before the first ball of this IPL season was bowled, Arjun Tendulkar had already seen enough to know. And on Thursday night at Eden Gardens, 54,000 people found out what he already knew.

The Forecast That Went Unread

In a pre-season interview, Arjun Tendulkar — LSG’s left-arm seamer and Mukul Choudhary’s teammate — was asked about players to watch. His answer was specific.

“Mukul Choudhary hits amazing sixes. Yesterday, in a practice match, I saw his sixes. I was really impressed. He hits everywhere — square-leg, point, upper cut, behind the bowler. I was really impressed by his batting.”

KKR’s bowlers, it turned out, had missed the memo.

A 21-Year-Old From Jhunjhunu Takes Eden Gardens Apart

Mukul Choudhary was born in Jhunjhunu, a small district town in Rajasthan on August 6, 2004. Cricket was in his family from the start — his father Dalip Kumar Choudhary dreamed of his son playing the sport even before Mukul was born. He represented UP Under-19, then India Under-19 in 2022, before breaking into domestic cricket for Rajasthan.

The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025-26 was the turning point — 173 runs in five innings at a strike rate of 198.85. LSG came to the December 2026 auction and spent Rs 2.6 crore on him. In T20 domestic cricket, he averaged 42.00 with a strike rate of 165.35.

But nothing quite prepared Eden Gardens for what arrived on Thursday night.

The Chase: 54 Needed Off 24 Balls, Three Wickets Left

KKR had posted 181/4 off their 20 overs — Angkrish Raghuvanshi making 45 off 33, Ajinkya Rahane a rapid 41 off 24, Rovman Powell 39 not out and Cameron Green a composed 32 not out, finally bowling in the match for the first time this season.

LSG’s chase fell apart at the top. Rishabh Pant was dismissed by Cameron Green’s very first ball of IPL 2026. By the 13th over, LSG were 104/5 — teetering. By the 16th, they were 128/7 with five overs remaining.

Mukul Choudhary walked in and immediately treated the Eden Gardens like a sightscreen-to-sightscreen batting range.

He hit sixes square of the wicket — exactly as Arjun had described in the practice game. He hit them over extra cover, over long-on, behind the wicketkeeper, and through positions that had not been offered to batters all night. Cameron Green, Kartik Tyagi and Vaibhav Arora — three different bowling types in the death — could not contain him.

When the final over began, LSG needed 14 off six. Vaibhav Arora bowled it. Mukul scored 12 off the first five balls and a scramble-bye-driven single off the sixth sealed the win. LSG 182/7. KKR 181/4. Win by three wickets, off the last ball.

Mukul’s final line: 54 not out off 27 balls, seven sixes, two fours.

“Something Is Cooking Inside” — Pant, Langer Both Marvel

LSG captain Rishabh Pant, who trusted Mukul to bat at No. 7, was lost for words.

“I do not have words to describe, but what a fantastic effort. One thing I made sure of personally is trust, and when you believe in someone, a player can do wonders. The character, with each and every match like this, shows something is building. We don’t want to talk much about it, but something is cooking inside.”

LSG coach Justin Langer went for the highest possible comparisons when asked to describe him.

“What I love most about him is that he’s a real athlete. The way he runs between the wickets is elite, like Virat. But the other thing is his game sense. We’ve had some practice games, and the way he talks about the game feels like he’s played 300 matches already. He’s got power, he’s a great athlete, and he’s got grace. As we both know, that’s a pretty good combination.”

Match Summary

For KKR, still without a win from four matches this season, it was the most painful possible kind of defeat — one taken away from them by a batter they had no clear plan for. The Finn Allen dismissal controversy earlier in the match now felt almost irrelevant.