Meet THIS ex-Ranji player who achieved unique feat in international cricket while representing USA

Milind Kumar, now shining for the USA, delivered a stunning unbeaten 155 against the UAE and could soon return to the IPL after four seasons, thanks to his impressive performances.

New Delhi: Milind Kumar, 32, born in India and a former domestic cricketer for Delhi and Sikkim, is now making waves for the USA in the ICC Cricket World Cup League. On Tuesday, he played a brilliant unbeaten knock of 155 against the UAE, leading the USA to a record-breaking total of 339/4 in 50 overs, their highest ever in international cricket. Saiteja Mukkamalla provided solid support, scoring a century and sharing a 191-run partnership with Milind.

Milind’s brilliant knock of 155 made him the American batter with the second-highest individual score in international cricket, trailing only Jaskaran Malhotra’s 173.

Milind featured for Delhi in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2010, wherein started his domestic career. Milind made a Ranji Trophy debut against Haryana for Delhi in the year 2011. Milind played in 46 matches for the various teams that he represented throughout his first-class career. Milind scored a total of 2,988 runs with the highest score of 261.

Milind Kumar was bought by Delhi Daredevils (DD) in the Indian Premier League 2014 for INR 10 lakh. In IPL 2019, also termed as the 12th season, he was bought by his new franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at his base price of INR 20 lakh.

Milind Kumar moved to Sikkim from Delhi before the 2018-19 Ranji Trophy season. He proved to be the highest run-getter in the whole tournament by scoring 1331 runs. In December 2018, Royal Challengers Bangalore once again bought him for the 2019 IPL season but was let go by the franchise before the 2020 IPL auction.

Milind Kumar parted ways with the Sikkim team before the 2019/20 Ranji Trophy season and joined Tripura, where he played his final first-class match in 2020 against Assam. Later, he switched his nationality to the USA, seeking more opportunities to play competitive cricket at the international level. This decision paid off, as he truly began to shine representing the USA.

Milind Kumar had some real good outings in Major League Cricket playing for the Texas Super Kings and that already went a long way in consolidating his place in the USA’s one-day team. He has already made a considerable contribution to the national side although he has played only 8 ODIs. But though those 8 ODIs were all it took for him to contribute 354 runs with a hundred and two fifties, Milind Kumar already began to establish himself as a decisive player in the batting lineup of his country.

Impressive Milind Kumar, coming off a string of good performances, could also find himself back in the Indian Premier League (IPL) after missing out for four seasons. His record and reputation have made him such valuable property that there could be more than one franchise knocking on his door. It will be interesting to see which team has him in its crosshairs when the time for the IPL mega auction comes calling.