In the blur of a moment, disappointment can turn to jubilation. The Karnataka all-rounder, Manvanth Kumar, would have experienced something similar after being bought by Delhi Capitals in the 2025 IPL Auction. For a while, it felt as if his name wouldn’t even appear in the list. However, at the fag end of the two-day auction, it didn’t just crop up on the board, but DC also bagged his services for INR 30 lakh.
So, what did Manvanth make about the rollercoaster ride of watching the auction? “I didn’t expect that Delhi Capitals would pick me, initially my name had got skipped,” he told RevSportz. “I thought to myself, ‘I have to work harder, there is always the next season’. Afterwards, they picked me (and that) made me feel very happy.”
His family members seemed to have some kind of intuition that Manvanth would land up with an IPL contract. “My parents had plenty of hopes on me (smile),” he said. “They said, ‘we knew that you would get picked’. I had told them not to have such high hopes. They only called me and talked via a video. My brother said, ‘I thought Mumbai would pick you, but DC did in the end.’”
Just a few weeks back, there was something else that was echoing in his mind. That was about how to turn his fortunes around in the CK Nayudu Trophy. It didn’t take long for the cheerful cricketer to lay down a marker with both the bat and ball, in a game against Odisha. He accumulated an eye-catching innings of 121 and also plucked nine wickets in the match. Soon, he was picked in the Karnataka squad for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
“That match mattered a lot to me,” said Manvanth. “After playing the first match, they didn’t play me in a couple of games. I thought, ‘I shouldn’t get dropped again’, I just grabbed the opportunity. I was visualising that kind of an innings as I hadn’t scored a hundred for a while. I was (shadow) batting near the pitch, or thinking about what areas to bowl while standing next to the wicket. It was a green top, I like bowling on a green top.”
Due to the busy schedule of having to play CK Nayudu Trophy, he couldn’t attend a couple of trials of IPL franchises. But it looks like the head honchos of a particular team had seen enough of his potential and made up their minds on selecting him. “I could only attend the trials at Mumbai Indians, as I had to play matches in the CK Nayudu trophy,” he said. “I went to their trials three times. I was also called by CSK, RCB and DC. I couldn’t go for DC and RCB’s trials due to the matches.
“I bowled well in the first trials. In the first over, I was hit around in the Powerplay, but bowled well in my second over. My batting was okay. In the second trial, it didn’t go as well as I thought.”
Before the CK Nayudu tournament, Manvanth also made an impression in the Maharaja Trophy, picking up 15 scalps for Hubli Tigers. In the Bengaluru Blasters-Tigers game, his all-round abilities sparkled brightly. The tall all-rounder accrued a breezy 15-ball 28 for Tigers and then he bagged a four-for. If Shubang Hedge was done in by a delivery that bounced more than expected, then the experienced Mayank Agarwal was dismissed by a cracker – the ball angled in before leaving a stunned Mayank to catch the edge.
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If you wondered whether his heroics in that match were confined to those two deliveries, then you were wrong. The game needed as many as three Super Overs to break the deadlock and it was yet again Manvanth who rose to the occasion by cracking a couple of boundaries, including the winning shot, to steer his side to a spine-tingling victory.
Incidentally, Manvanth had also taken 22 scalps in last year’s Maharaja Trophy, but he isn’t resting on his laurels. Manvanth seems to have that extra bit of motivation to learn new tricks of the trade in order to pursue excellence. He has tried to fine-tune the art of bowling the knuckle ball as well as nailing the yorkers. His head was falling away a little bit to the left side and that has been rectified.
During that time, he also worked with Mansur Ali Khan and Vinay Kumar, the coach and mentor of Tigers. “Vinay sir had called me over for the Mumbai Indians’ trials,” said Manvanth. “MAK sir also gives me advice. Previously, I wasn’t nailing the yorkers accurately. So, this year, I have improved on bowling the yorkers. Also, how to be mentally strong in different situations, how to make a comeback if you get hit, how to remain patient, all these things I have learnt.”
His urge to improve by small percentages could be observed by his reply to a question on his initial thoughts of playing alongside the likes of KL Rahul, Mitchell Starc, T Natarajan and others at DC. “IPL is not a small thing at all,” he said. “Obviously, Mitchell Starc, he played in the IPL finals last season. How was the situation, how he handled the pressure, I will get more clarity on all that.”
That is Manvanth’s professional career so far. But there is still a question to be answered. From where did he get the initiation to take up the game of willow and leather? How did it blossom? Here, Hemanth Kumar, his elder brother, ended up playing a pivotal role. “He was the reason why I came to this stage,” said Manvanth. “If he and my father had not made me join (the academy), I wouldn’t have made it till here. By watching him play, I got till here. I joined MUCSC – Mysore University Colleges Sports Council. Now, I am playing for RBNCC.”
There is also a small twist in the tale. It turns out that batting was perhaps his main suit a few years ago. But a certain performance convinced Manvanth about his bowling skills. “In my first year in Under-19 Zonals, I had taken 7 wickets for 5 runs in nine overs, that gave me lots of confidence. The reason for me becoming more of a bowler than a batter was that spell.”
Not just his brother, but Manvanth also draws inspiration from England captain and star all-rounder, Ben Stokes. “I like Stokes, the kind of role he plays for the team,” he said. “I like his mindset, how he keeps getting the breakthroughs when the team needs it the most. The one innings that I like about him is that knock in Leeds (versus Australia), how he won the game for England, how he rotated the strike, his aggression, playing reverse sweeps. It was too good.”
There is one more quality that stands out about Manvanth. Whatever the query, he seems to wear a smile while answering them. Probably, he knows when to switch on and switch off. That trait of Manvanth could help him to survive the hard grind of playing in the IPL.
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