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Akash Madhwal in action for Mumbai Indians in IPL 2023© BCCI
It was a sight for Akash Madhwal at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Wednesday as the young fast bowler picked up five wickets to guide Mumbai Indians to victory over Lucknow Super Giants in the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) Eliminator. Figures of 5/5 in 3.3 overs were enough to put him on an elite list comprising massive names like Anil Kumble and Jasprit Bumrah. Yet just four years ago, Madhwal was playing tennis ball cricket and had never touched a red ball.
Madhwal, who studied engineering, became the first cricketer from Uttarakhand state to play in the IPL after he was picked by MI in 2022 as a replacement for the injured Suryakumar Yadav.
In 2019, he caught the eye of then Uttarakhand manager Wasim Jaffer and current manager Manish Jha and that resulted in the fast bowler starting his practice with the red ball.
What followed was a fairy tale run for Madhwal in the domestic season and ahead of the 2023 domestic season, the fast bowler was rewarded for his efforts when Uttarakhand named him captain of the cue ball.
The MI bowler also has an interesting connection with India’s batsman Rishabh Pant.
Both cricketers hail from the same area of Uttarakhand and during his formative years, Madhwal also trained under Avtar Singh, the cricket manager who trained Pant before moving to Delhi.
“He (Akash) was part of the team last year as a support bowler, and once Jofra left I knew he had the skills and character to do the job for us. Over the years we have seen many guys come from Mumbai Indians and play for India,” said MI skipper Rohit Sharma after the match.
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