“I was just 8 when I realised I wanted to play for India. Cricket wasn’t a hobby; it was everything. I went on to represent Andhra in U-14, U-16, U-19, India U-19, and South Zone, sharing dressing rooms with Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Suresh Raina, and Dinesh Karthik. Dinesh and I were even roommates during our months at the NCA camps. I vividly remember a match against Saurashtra where I smashed Jadeja over mid-on and mid-off in a heated chase. Cricket consumed me to the point that I barely attended school or college, constantly travelling for matches. Though I secured admission to top engineering colleges, I chose KL University in Vijayawada just to stay close to the game.

Then came the injury, a thumb fracture during a local college match. With a crucial U-19 selection game ahead, I begged the doctor to remove the cast and played through the pain. That mistake cost me dearly. My thumb never healed properly, and I couldn’t grip the bat or hit with the same power again.

Back then, cricket wasn’t the lucrative career it is today. No IPL, no endorsements, just pure passion. Realising I wouldn’t play for India broke me. But I’ve always owned my choices. If I was going to fail, I wanted it to be on my terms. So, I pivoted. If I couldn’t represent India with a bat, maybe I could serve the nation another way, as an IAS officer. I moved to Hyderabad for Civil Services prep, cracked the exam twice with top-1000 ranks, but never high enough for IAS. My rule was clear — IAS or nothing.

In 2013, with no backup, I started Appoids Tech. Just three of us in a small Hyderabad room, building ERP systems for government schools. In year one, we touched ₹6 crores; by 2019, ₹40–50 crores. Then COVID hit. Budgets froze. I pivoted again.

My fitness background led to Transform Fitness, making celebrity-level training accessible. It worked, and in 2021, Upasana Kamineni of Apollo Group acquired it. Leaving behind a ₹2-crore salary wasn’t easy, but with my family’s support, I stayed on a year before moving on.

Next came an unexpected love — cooking. After my daughter’s birth, I wanted healthier desserts: no sugar, no maida, no guilt. That’s how Yummy Bee began, first as a small cloud kitchen in Kukatpally. Demand grew, and soon a Jubilee Hills café became a celebrity favourite. Today, Yummy Bee has 10 stores and plans for expansion in Bangalore, Mumbai and beyond. I want ‘guilt-free’ to mean ‘Yummy Bee.’

As for cricket? I haven’t held a bat in years. But the discipline it taught me, and the quiet strength of my father’s support through every transition, remain my foundation. Because in the end, it’s not about the dream you lose, it’s about having the courage to build new ones, and the people who believe in you through every inning of life.”

— Sandeep Jangala, Entrepreneur & Former Cricketer