Long gone are the days when young cricketers had to do the hard yards for years to get noticed. In the era of T20 leagues, with almost every state in the country launching its own competition, youngsters now have the best possible platform to prove their talent while also sharing a dressing room with some of the biggest names in the game. The Madhya Pradesh League has gone from strength to strength, and one of the standout performers this season has been Gwalior Cheetahs batter, Parth Chaudhary.
The 22-year-old has set the tournament ablaze with his form and has truly flourished under the leadership of Rajat Patidar, the Indian Premier League (IPL) winning captain. Parth, a right-handed top-order batter, can also contribute with the ball. Like several others across the country, he started playing the sport at an early age, with his father, now a property dealer and politician, playing a crucial role in his cricketing journey.
“I am from Mathura. I started playing cricket when I was 5-6 years old. My father used to play cricket. So, he used to take me with him. So, when I got interested, I started playing professionally. Then I joined an academy. My father taught me everything in the beginning. He used to play for fun. He used to play in tournaments. So, I used to go with him,” Parth, who plays for JKC sports-owned Cheetahs, told HT Digital.
“So, when I got interested, I started playing. My elder brother plays for Pondicherry. My father wanted me to play professionally. My father is a property dealer now. Moreover, he is also a politician,” he added.
The batter announced himself in style during the MPL 2026 season, smashing the tournament’s first century, a blistering 107 off just 51 deliveries, to help his team register a crucial victory. The innings exhibited his wide range of strokes, temperament and ability to dominate quality bowling attacks under pressure.
Parth’s aggressive brand of cricket has made him one of the standout performers of the season. In MPL 2026, he has amassed more than 400 runs at a strike rate of over 170.
“Last year, I was just trying to score runs. I didn’t have any such mindset. My mindset was that I had already decided that I had to score runs this time and get the leading run-scorer trophy. I have also worked on rotating the strike. I’m just not only thinking about getting fours and sixes,” said Parth.
“I also smashed my fastest century. However, the team’s performance has been inconsistent. We have to win both matches by a good margin,” he added.
The Rajat Patidar factor
The world now knows the pedigree of Patidar, the captain. He has led RCB to two back-to-back IPL wins. If he batter wanted to take a break, he very well could have, but he decided to turn up for Gwalior Cheetahs in the MPL. And Parth cannot praise his skipper enough.
“He is very calm. He handles the situation very well. He handles things very well. I like his batting a lot. He is my current favourite. I consider him my idol. I am learning a lot from him. I am learning a lot from his ability,” said Parth.
“He is a very good captain. He listens to everyone. He doesn’t look down on the younger players. He listens to the younger players as well. He listens to everyone. He doesn’t do things on his own. That’s what I like about him,” he added.
The youngster dreams of playing in the IPL, and unsurprisingly, follows RCB. However, Parth was a Chennai Super Kings fan at first, but the recent RCB performance made him turn allegiances. “I support RCB. I used to support Chennai. But after watching RCB’s batting style for the past 2 years, I have started supporting RCB,” he said.
“MS Dhoni is my idol. I haven’t been able to meet him. Hopefully, I’ll meet him soon,” he added.
Parth is excelling in the shortest format now, but he knows the importance of the grind in red-ball cricket as well. “Red ball is very important. The red ball cricket is bigger than the white ball. I like to play red ball cricket, and I look to take the game on there as well,” he concluded.