Mukesh Kumar is another product of the recent emergence of pace bowlers in India. He is a right-arm fast bowler who rose through the ranks of domestic cricket. Kumar made his first-class debut for Bengal in 2014 against Haryana. He played his first List A game in the same year as well. Kumar worked on himself and performed well for Bengal, especially in the Ranji Trophy. His breakthrough came in the 2020–21 season when he picked up 20 wickets in nine innings and helped Bengal reach the final. However, he slowly started to learn new variations and adjusted his bowling to suit the limited-overs format as well. After looking at his consistent performances, he was added to the squad for India in the series against South Africa in late 2022. In 2023, he was part of the Indian T20I team against Sri Lanka and New Zealand but could not get any games. Before the New Zealand series, he took nine wickets in three unofficial four-day matches against New Zealand A. He returned to Bengal for the quarterfinals and picked up three wickets in the first innings against Jharkhand. Kumar was also bought by Delhi for the 2023 Indian T20 League. Kumar has been around the national team for some time now, and with his abilities, a debut does not seem far away.
