From being brought into the team as an injury replacement for Suryakumar Yadav in the 2022 season, Akash Madhwal has had a meteoric rise in the Indian Premier League.
On Sunday, in Mumbai's final league stage match of the season, that was a must-win game for them, he played an extremely key role, picking 4/37 to help restrict Sunrisers Hyderabad to 200/5 as they went on to win the match by eight wickets, with 12 balls to spare.
Where five other bowlers had failed, Madhwal got Mumbai the big breakthrough to end the 141-run opening stand between Vivrant Sharma (69) and Mayank Agarwal (83), picking both their wickets. He then claimed two wickets off successive balls in an eventful 19th over to claim his first four-wicket haul in his maiden IPL.
At the end of the league stage of IPL 2023, the 29-year-old from Uttarakhand had eight wickets from six matches at an average of 20.35. He was the third most successful Mumbai Indians bowler behind Piyush Chawla (20 off 14) and Jason Nehrendorff (14 off 10).
The 29-year-old medium pacer, who hails from Roorkee, Uttarakhand, made his IPL debut for Mumbai Indians against Punjab Kings earlier this month and went wicketless. In his third match against Royal Challengers Bangalore, he bowled an impressive 20th over to concede only six runs, darting yorkers at Kedar Jadhav and Wanindu Hasaranga.
On Sunday, his four wickets were the difference between Mumbai chasing a target of 201 and not 220 or even 230, which looked possible following the 140-run opening stand between Vivrant Sharma and Mayank Agarwal.
Mumbai Indians allrounder Cameron Green said Madhwal has made a lot of difference since he got into the playing XI.
"As soon as he came in, he kind of changed our whole line-up basically. I think with the role he has played, especially at the backend, take the overs off us so we can bowl a little more through the Power-play, we can mix and match different people to bowl at different times with how good he has been," said Green.
Mumbai: Mumbai Indians bowler Akash Madhwal celebrates with team captain Rohit Sharma after the wicket of Sunrisers Hyderabad batter Mayank Agarwal during the IPL 2023 match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians.
(Photo: BCCI)
Madhwal is making a name for himself as a death-over bowler as he claimed a superb 19th over on Sunday and also did well in the 20th over against RCB. Green said his great temperament was the main reason for his success in the backend of the game.
"He has got a really good head on him, he is so calm. Looks like he is kind of being made for it," said Green.
The right-hand medium pacer bowls a mean yorker and changes his pace while keeping a consistent line and length that does not allow the batters to take too many liberties.
Madhwal, whose father was an army officer, has also made a name for himself at the domestic level
Madhwal, who completed his B Tech in Civil Engineering from the College of Engineering, Roorkee in 2016, made his T20 debut in 2019 and has played 25 T20s and taken 25 wickets at an economy rate of 7.66.
In the 10 First Class games that he has played so far, Madhwal took 12 wickets and has an economy of 3.38. On the other hand, in 17 List A matches, Akash scalped 18 wickets and bowled at an economy rate of 4.88.Mumbai: Mumbai Indians bowler Akash Madhwal celebrates with team captain Rohit Sharma after the wicket of Sunrisers Hyderabad batter Mayank Agarwal during the IPL 2023 cricket match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians, at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, Sunday, May 21, 2023. (PTI Photo/Kunal Patil)(PTI05_21_2023_000234B)
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