By Kingshuk Kusari: 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 home town.
India Today met with Akash Madhwal’s family a day after the bowler’s exploits in the IPL Eliminator. Hailing from Dhandera region in Roorkee’s outskirts, Madhwal’s family was immensely proud of the pacer’s achievements. Akash’s elder brother, Ashish spoke to India Today about his brother’s exploits in the tournament and said that it had only happened because of Rohit Sharma.
“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 in an exclusive interview with India Today.
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 trial at Uttarakhand,” one of Akash’s local friends told India Today.
The pacer became so good at a point in time that the local leagues decided to ban him, revealed Ashish Madhwal, who is a businessman by profession.
“Nobody let him play here. There was a lot of fear of his bowling. So, he was banned from the local tournaments. Dar ka mahoul tha. Akash used to go outside of Roorkee and play,” Ashish said.
“But yeah, his tennis ball days are done. He is so, so happy right now,” the elder brother further added.
The family had 40 people over at their house, who were watching Mumbai vs Lucknow’s Eliminator. They even had to arrange for a generator to keep away power-outages, something that is frequent in Roorkee, during rainy season. Asked about the standout moment for Akash in this season, Ashish pointed at the TV, where Rohit Sharma could be seen patting the back of the pacer.
“Rohit Sharma takes 50 per cent of his tensions. Just look at the bond that they share (points to TV),” Ashish concluded.
Madhwal has given a solid account of himself in the IPL 2023, picking up 13 wickets from 7 matches. Madhwal has the second-best strike-rate (9.92) among bowlers this season, only behind England’s Mark Wood. He will be seen in action against Gujarat Titans in the Qualifier 2 on Friday, 26 May.