Photo credit: Mayank Dagar/Instagram

Some of the biggest champions of cricket on the international stage have come from the gullies. Playing with rubber, hard tennis or even plastic balls, many heroes have cut their teeth in small by-lanes with close friends or family. For Himchali Heartthrob Mayank Dagar, gully cricket was a huge part of growing up and evolving into the lethal spinner than he now is.

“Playing gully cricket (is my first memory of cricket). I used to play a lot of it,” Mayank told kxip.in.

He particularly liked one of the shots spinners dread. It is one of the hardest shots in the game, but Dagar could play it all day long.

“I used to play a lot of reverse sweeps when I was younger. I was really fond of that shot,” he recollected.

While he has since gone on to sweep the nation with his accurate bowling and dazzling looks, the gully where he first started tweaking the cricket ball will always have a special place in Mayank’s heart.

After taking long strides in cricket, much like in his favourite reverse sweep shot, Dagar from the gully, ab udaega sab ki gilli.