Kulwant Khejroliya

Kulwant Khejroliya is an Indian cricketer who hails from the Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan. Born on March 13, 1992, Khejroliya is a left-handed fast bowler and a left-handed batter. The 32-year-old currently plays for Madhya Pradesh in the domestic circuit. 

Despite his healthy domestic stats, Khejroliya has not been provided a long run to prove his efficiency in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He was recruited as a net bowler for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the 2024 edition of the IPL.

Kulwant Khejroliya: Along the Years

 Kulwant Khejroliya Records

• Third bowler to pick up four wickets in four balls in Ranji Trophy history

Kulwant Khejroliya Career

Kulwant Khejroliya was from a lower-middle-class family. His parents wanted their son to complete his education and secure a well-paid job. Khejroliya tried his hand at the railway exams. After failing a couple of times, he served as a waiter at a restaurant in Goa. One of his friends saw the young man’s talent and asked him to join the LB Shastri Academy in Delhi.

The young man did not disappoint the selectors at the trials. Gautam Gambhir was impressed with his talent and asked the coaches to train him for the senior team.

Khejroliya trained under Sanjay Bhardwaj and Atul Wassan. He was consistently generating pace and could move the ball both ways.

However, inducting him into the senior team right away was not an option as fresh and raw talents must be groomed and trained so that they perform to the best of their ability. Khejroliya was regularly bowling to senior players at the nets which made him improve on a lot of aspects and take his game to the next level.

Kulwant Khejroliya Domestic Career

Kulwant Khejroliya made his domestic debut for Delhi against Himachal Pradesh (HP) in Bhubaneswar in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2016-17 season on February 26, 2017. On his List-A debut, the left-arm pacer grabbed a three-wicket haul but it went in vain as Delhi lost the game by a huge margin of 185 runs.

Kulwant Khejroliya took two wickets on his first-class (FC) debut for Delhi against Assam on October 6, 2017. Since then, his career has scaled only upwards.

The fast bowler formed a formidable bowling partnership with Navdeep Saini to take Delhi to the finals of the Ranji Trophy 2017-18 season. He registered match figures of 6/104 in the semi-finals against Bengal. In the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2017-18 season, Khejroliya made his T20 debut for Delhi against Punjab in Delhi on January 9, 2018. After representing Delhi in the domestic circuit for about five years, he moved to Madhya Pradesh (MP) in 2023.

The 32-year-old scripted history in the 2023-24 edition of the Ranji Trophy when he bagged a double hat-trick to his name. Khejroliya became only the third Indian to take four wickets in four consecutive balls in MP’s encounter against Baroda.

Currently aged 32, Khejroliya has risen from the bottom and has become a key player in the domestic setup.

Kulwant Khejroliya IPL Career

Kulwant Khejroliya was purchased for INR 10 lakhs by the Mumbai Indians for the 2017 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) but failed to get a game under his belt. The 2018 auctions saw him grabbed by the Royal Challengers Bangalore (now Royal Challengers Bengaluru) for INR 85 lakhs. Under the leadership of Virat Kohli, he made his IPL debut against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in IPL 2018. He featured in the next edition of the league before being let away by the franchise. 

In IPL 2021, Khejroliya came in as a replacement for Manimaran Siddharth in the middle of the tournament. He did not get to play a game for the Capitals. In the IPL 2023, the Knight Riders acquired his services for INR 20 lakhs. He featured in a couple of games but did not get enough opportunities. He was released by KKR and went on to serve as a net bowler for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in IPL 2024.