Tymal Mills

What's cricket without pace bowling? Talk about pace. Sheer pace. Tymal Solomon Mills is your man if you're fan of fast bowling in a game that evokes acres of emotions in the blink of an eye. Not many heard, not many witnessed, not many acknowledged of what Mills was capable of. Not until he knocked the leg peg of Chris Gayle - the world boss - with a 93mph thunderbolt in a Natwest T20 game. Born in Tuddenham, a place that barely beams on the world map, Mills is now a millionaire. Yes, officially.

It was a touching story. It really is. The journey from being a raw, erratic bowler to earning a contract with one of the richest sport leagues going around. Tymal Mills didn't choose cricket. It's the other way around. Was introduced to the sport by a family friend when he was 13, and soon fell in love with bowling. He was an intimidating figure, of course, for his lethal pace during his grade cricket. Some lads just refused to play against him. What crime did Mills commit? Bowling pace at full-throttle.

Mills was captained by Richard Cross at Tuddenham. In an interview with The Telegraph, Cross described Mills' early days as 'raw' A fitting testimony to Mills' pace would be this: 'My dad used to say you should have all 10 fielders behind the wicket for Tymal with two third men because people were not going to hit him in front of the bat because he was too quick,' Cross said.

Like many young talents, Mills took his own, sweet while to tick all the boxes to justify his fuzzy fame. After a mix of wayward and inconsistent stints during his early days, Mills gave up journalism to pursue a career in cricket at Essex by the age of 19. He made steady progress at the academy which helped him represent England U-19, before his championship debut, which came in 2011.

During 2013-14 Ashes, when Mitchell Johnson was tormenting England, a few fanatics suggested the inclusion of a certain Tymal Mills, in a bid to fight fire with fire. Mills was taken to Australia to help his side in getting accustomed to the bustling pace of left-arm quick Mitch Johnson. Midway of the series, It was whispered that he nearly broke Graeme Swann's arm while bowling in the nets.

Following a skimpy Championship season in 2014 with Essex, Mills switched to Sussex to fast-track his career. Although, he continued to be in the fringes of England Lions' squad, Mills was diagnosed with a congenital back problem in 2015 which prevented him from playing the longer form. Just as most champions do, Mills, traced a ray of light in shambolic bubble as he mustered courage and tenacity to lord all sorts of variations the T20 cricket demands.

He made his debut against Sri Lanka at Southampton on 5 July 2016 and soon became a familiar face on TV by sparkling in various (T20) leagues across the globe. He also got a great chance to prove his claim just before the 2017 IPL auctions. Mills featured in all three T20I games against India and managed 3 wickets at an acceptable economy rate.

Mills had to pinch himself to soak in all the attention he got on 20 February 2016, a day that he wouldn't dare to forget; A 1.4 million USD contract to play for Royal Challengers Bangalore knocked his door. Tymal Mills is a near perfect example of what one can achieve despite the limitations life sets physically. After all, it's a mental game out there. And yes Mills can bowl slow too.

By Raju Peethala