Nakula Badanayak

“Great things come from hard work and perseverance” -Kobe Bryant This quote from the late Kobe Bryant truly embodies the life of Mr. Nakula Badanayak. Mr. Nakula is an 18-year-old B2 category cricketer hailing from Koraput, Odisha. He was born to Mr. Bibhishana Badanayak and Mrs. Janaki Badanayak, who work as rice farmers in their hometown. Mr. Nakula only started playing cricket in the year 2016. Back then, he studied in a blind school where he was introduced to cricket by a coach named Mr. Chandrashekar Potnayak, who taught him the basics of cricket. He was a natural at the sport, which enabled him to hone his batting and bowling skills, leading him to become an all-rounder. Mr. Nakula truly learned the sport when he was tutored by one of India’s most prominent blind cricketers, Mr. Sukhram Manjhi, a fellow resident of Koraput and someone that Nakula refers to as “Sukhram Bhaiya.” Mr. Nakula’s international cricketing career got off to an excellent start. His first game for India was in the Bilateral Series against England in 2018, where he took a wicket off his first ball. He also mentioned that the proudest moment of his life was playing a game of cricket at the Eden Gardens, a ground in Kolkata often referred to as the home of Indian cricket. He was most recently selected as a part of the Indian T-20 squad which faced Bangladesh in a home series. He was part of the 3rd T20 World Cup 2022 winning team and he recently took part in the IBSA world Games 2023 at Birmingham and won silver. Presently, Mr. Nakula is studying and is in the 12th grade. He wants to continue playing cricket throughout his life and hopes to be able to support his family by playing cricket. He looks forward to the Nagesh Trophy and hopes to win it with his state team, Odisha.

• Hometown Odisha
• Education/Qualification 12th Grade
• Category B2