Sushant Mishra may do “nautanki” at home over having vegetables like any 19-year-old, but on the field he transforms into a bouncer-firing speed gun.

The 19-year-old left-arm pacer from Ranchi, who also bats in the lower order, claimed 3 for 28 against Pakistan in the first semi-final of the ICC Under-19 World Cup at the JB Marks Oval at Potchefstroom in South Africa on Tuesday, making his doting parents Samir and Mamta proud.

“We feel proud that India made it to the finals and Sushant had a role to play in it but real happiness is that we walloped Pakistan,” father Samir Mishra, who works at a private firm in the capital, told The Telegraph over phone on Wednesday.

Sushant is a very friendly and helpful person, the father said.

“He sometimes does nautanki (drama) at home when his mother (Mamta) insists that he eat more chapatis and vegetables. But otherwise our son is a good boy. He even donates his cricket kit (with essentials such as bowling shoes, gloves, pads and bat) to cricketers who can’t afford it. I am sure he will stay the same after he returns from South Africa. Cricket means everything to him,” Samir said.

Sushant has donned the India colt jersey in the past, including the one-day tri-series with England and the ACC Asia Cup in Sri Lanka both last year.

“But he has no airs. He’ll come home and answer his Class XII board exams,” laughed his father, adding that Sushant scored 80 per cent in the CBSE Class X board exams from DAV Pundag.

“We put no pressure on him, be it studies or cricket, because we trust him,” said Samir, who hails from Darbhanga in Bihar originally but settled at Shalimar Bagh Colony in Pundag.

The only indulgence? “We bought Sushant a bike last year. He needed to ride to the JSCA stadium in Dhurwa, some 7km from our home, for practice and workshops,” the father said.

Mamta said her son

loves paneer and chicken the most.

“He’ll happily have them every day. But as he is a fast bowler, I insist he Sushant should have more chapatis and vegetables. Then there’s a mini-war at home,” Mamta laughed. “But he eats half-a-dozen eggs, fish and sometimes mutton to build strength for fast bowling,” she added.

The parents said they hoped someday their son would represent the senior Indian cricket team.

“We’ve raised him well. He’s also doing his best. The rest is his destiny,” said his mother.

On his hobbies, Mamta said Sushant was too obsessed with cricket to think of much else. “He only watches cricket channels on TV. He very rarely catches a movie, again with his cricketer friends. He loves to eat home-cooked food,” she said.

Sushant’s coach Satyam Roy, who runs a cricket camp at Harmu ground, said the boy was a serious cricketer who bowls at a speed of 140-plus kmph.

“Sushant has a good out-swinger and tricky bouncers. He also bowls a good slower ball. His in-swinger needs perfection. I am optimistic that he would be in the senior Indian side in three years. I hope

he performs in a lot of Ranji and zonal tournaments,” he added.

What’s Sushant’s USP? “His speed,” said the coach.

The talented seamer emerged as the highest wicket-taker while playing for Jharkhand Under-23 side in the Board of Control for Cricket in India one-day tournaments in 2018-19. Sushant claimed 18 wickets in 7 matches.

He was among the bunch of medium-pacers who attended a camp conducted by Australian great Glenn McGrath at the JSCA International Stadium last year.

The boy has also paid heed to pep talks by former Team India skipper M.S. Dhoni on the importance of mental strength and fitness, as well another former skipper, Rahul Dravid, on the power of staying positive, his coach said.