IPL 2023: Mumbai Indians pacer Akash Madhwal became the first-ever bowler to pick a 5-wicket haul in the IPL play-offs. A tennis ball bowler till the age of 24, Madhwal is actually banned from his local leagues. Here’s why?
Mumbai Indians pacer Akash Madhwal has turned heads in the Indian Premier League 2023. On, Wednesday, 24 May, Madhwal, playing in the Eliminator against Lucknow Super Giants, became the first player in the tournament’s history to pick a 5-wicket-haul in the play-offs stages.
Madhwal also matched the legendary Anil Kumble for the figure of most-economical five-wicket in the IPL. Madhwal’s achievements in his debut season in the Indian Premier League is the stuff of dreams but like numerous others, the pacer had humble beginnings. Till 2018, Madhwal was a tennis ball bowler, who terrorised the local leagues near Roorkee – his hometown.
Not just his brother and mother, but the entire town of Dhandhera was celebrating Akash Madhwal’s historic spell in the Eliminator. The Maadhwal house in Dhandhera had visitors aplenty on Thursday morning as the locals walked up to Ashish, Akash’s brother, to congratulate him.
Ashish, speaking to IndiaToday.in, highlighted the role Rohit Sharma has been playing at Mumbai Indians to help his brother deliver under pressure in his maiden season in the IPL.
ये पल 🤩#OneFamily #MumbaiMeriJaan #MumbaiIndians #TATAIPL #IPL2023 pic.twitter.com/6GgtOtbycg
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) May 25, 2023
“The thing with Rohit bhai is that he gives players chances. He trusts his players and backs them. A new player is always scared for his position in the team. And Rohit has taken away that scare and Akash is delivering now,” Ashish told IndiaToday.in..
Ashish said that Mumbai Indians showed faith in him since the 2022 season, and now Akash is paying them back for the trust showed in him.
“When Suryakumar got injured in 2022, with 2/3 matches remaining MI announced him as a replacement for the batter. That was their way of showing faith in Akash that he would be picked for the IPL 2023 squad. Rohit had told him that he would get a chance to play in the 2023 season,” the elder brother further added.
The two brothers, separated by 12 months and 12 days grew up playing together. Akash, despite having a full-time job after his engineering degree could not leave cricket out of his life. With local tennis-ball tournaments prospering in the region, Akash had plenty of opportunities to play.
“When he was working after his engineering, people would come every day and say that don’t go to work today, come play in our team and we will pay you. And from there he transitioned to leather ball after his trials at Uttarakhand,” one of Akash’s local friends said.