Mother sold jewellery to buy him shoes, Bihar's Sakib Hussain is now an IPL star

A pair of spikes once felt like a luxury Sakib Hussain could not afford. Today, they are part of a story that has travelled from a small village in Bihar to the IPL spotlight, with a viral video from his Kolkata Knight Riders days bringing that journey back into focus after his stunning debut for Sunrisers Hyderabad.

For Sakib, the dream of fast bowling did not begin with perfect facilities or a steady income. It began with a simple problem, a pair of shoes he could not afford.

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“Shoes are very expensive. Proper bowling spikes cost around Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000. If we spend that much on shoes, then what will we eat?” he says in the now-viral video.

That one line captures the reality of his journey.

“He started crying, saying, ‘Mummy, I don’t have shoes, how will I play?’ We didn’t have that kind of money. I had to sell my jewellery to somehow get him those shoes,” his mother recalls.

In that moment, the dream was no longer just his. It became the family’s.

WHO WAS SAKIB BEFORE HIS IPL DEBUT?

Before the IPL spotlight, Sakib was quietly building his way up. He began as a net bowler for Chennai Super Kings before being picked up by Kolkata Knight Riders ahead of the 2024 season.

He did not get a game. Not in 2024. Not in 2025.

But the grind continued.

“I’m from Bihar, and my district Gopalganj is about 125 km from Patna. Back home, we don’t really have much. We are farmers. My father used to do farming, but then he developed a knee problem, so I told him he shouldn’t continue anymore,” Sakib says.

The responsibility to provide came early.

His father adds, “Now I am the one who has to earn for the family. If I was ill, even arranging a single meal became something we had to think about.”

Yet, even in those conditions, cricket found him.

“There is a ground near us, so he used to go early in the morning for running. Some local coaches noticed him and told him to try cricket,” his father recalls.

Sakib started with tennis-ball cricket, travelling long distances for small earnings.

“I used to play tennis-ball cricket, earning Rs 500, 600, 700, and sometimes even Rs 2,000 if I travelled about 150 km to play. From that point, I made up my mind that I had to pursue cricket,” he says.

The numbers began to back the belief.

He made his T20 debut for Bihar in the 2022–23 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and picked up 4 for 20 in just his second game at the age of 17. He followed it up with a maiden five-wicket haul in the 2025–26 Ranji Trophy, returning 6 for 41 against Arunachal Pradesh.

IPL scouts were watching.

At the IPL 2026 auction, Sunrisers Hyderabad signed him for Rs 30 lakh.

HOW SAKIB REPAID THE FAITH OF HIS FAMILY

If the spikes were the beginning of the story, Uppal became its first big chapter.

Chasing 217, Rajasthan Royals were blown away early by Praful Hinge, who reduced them to 9 for 5 inside three overs. But Sakib ensured there would be no way back.

He struck in the second over, dismissing Yashasvi Jaiswal for one. Later, when Donovan Ferreira and Ravindra Jadeja stitched together a 118-run stand, Sakib broke the resistance. Ferreira fell for 69, Jadeja for 45, and the innings unravelled again.

He finished with 4 for 24 as Rajasthan were bowled out for 159.

Numbers, however, only tell part of the story.

“We believed in him. He has always worked hard, and he still does. We always had faith that he would achieve something one day. That is why we backed him,” his uncle says.

And in many ways, that faith traces back to a single moment.

A young boy worrying about how to afford spikes.

A mother deciding to sell her jewellery.

Years later, those same spikes have carried Sakib Hussain onto the IPL stage, where he is no longer just chasing a dream. He is living it.

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