IPL 2017 has seen a number of rags to riches stories, but none like that of Tymal Mills, a young English lad, and a tearaway quick, who thought that he would never play cricket again after being diagnosed with a dangerous congenital back condition.
Mills is today an IPL millionaire, having been signed by Royal Challengers Bangalore for £1.4 million, making him one of the most expensive signings made in IPL 2017.
Mills’ back condition means that he can only play T20 cricket. He has become a T20 specialist, playing all over the world – in the Pakistan Super League, Bangladesh Premier League, Caribbean Super League and hopefully soon in the Big Bash. But his heart is very much with his teammates at Sussex, England.
Mills is a genuine fast bowler who bowls at a pace of 145km/h. He can bowl consistently fast and this makes him very useful, especially when genuine fast bowlers are few and far between.
He also has a well disguised slow ball, which he uses to great effect. Unlike many other genuine fast bowlers, Mills has great control over line and length, and is not someone who gives away easy runs to batsmen. Remarkably, he is still 22 years old and does not even have a home of his own.
He recently spoke to journalists at the Yorkshire Tea and Chance to Shine event, where he expressed his bewilderment at the incredible wealth he has been able to accumulate so fast.
Mills said in an interview with ESPNCricInfo.com, “I need to buy a house and that will be the first thing. Buy a house outright, so I don’t have to worry about a mortgage, just have to pay my bills, so if all else fails, that sets you up for the rest of your life.
“It’s not real yet, not until it goes into my account and I get paid. I’ve had to make arrangements to receive that money, I’ve never come into that type of money before so I’ve got a financial advisor sorted and spoke to my accountant, and set up my bank account accordingly.
“It is a massive amount of money but I’ve not actually thought about it as it’s not real until it’s real, as such.”
That is amazing indeed. Cricket is not as popular as football in the UK, and it is very rare for young English cricketers to become so rich at such an early age. Mills has certainly struck gold and can hardly believe his luck.
But his real challenge will begin on April 5, 2017, when the IPL 2017 gets started. There are many so-called superstars who have been expensive IPL failures – people like Andrew Flintoff come to mind.
One really hopes that the hype of making so much money in such a short time does not get to Mills and he keeps a cool head through all of this.
The thing about IPL is that it makes little known people heroes, and when they fail to perform at the highest stage, they are ruthlessly discarded and simply cast aside. Mills must be careful and make sure that this does not happen to him.
