IPL 2023: Rising through the ranks, Madhwal made his late debut as a bowler in the Mumbai Indian Championships
On Sunday, he made a difference with the ball as he grabbed his best figures of 4-37 to help the Mumbai Indians restrict Sunrisers Hyderabad to 200/5 as they went on to win the match with eight wickets and 12 balls to spare. Madhwal took both Sunrisers Hyderabad openers Vivrant Sharma (69) and Mayank Agarwal (83) and then claimed two wickets off successive balls in an eventful 19 to claim his first four-wicket haul in the IPL debut.
At the end of the preliminary round, the 29-year-old from Uttarakhand had taken eight wickets from six matches at an average of 20.35. He was the third most successful bowler for the Mumbai Indians behind Piyush Chawla (20-of-14) and Jason Nirendorf (14-of-10).
The 29-year-old medium, who hails from Rourkee, Uttarakhand, made his IPL debut for the Mumbai Indians against the Punjab Kings earlier this month and went flawless. In his third match against Royal Challengers Bangalore, he bowled an impressive 20 to concede just six runs, and yorkers lunged at Kedar Jadhav and Wanindu Hasaranga.
On Sunday, his four wickets were the difference between Mumbai chasing a target of 201 and not the 220 or even 230 that seemed possible after the 140-run opening stand between Vivrant Sharma and Mayank Agarwal.
Mumbai Indians founder Cameron Green said Madhwal had made a huge difference since playing the XI.
“As soon as he arrived he kind of changed our whole squad basically. I think with the role he’s played, especially at the back end, he took the exaggerations out on us so we can play a little bit more with the Power-play, we can mix and match different people in Different times with how good it was, Green said.
Madhwal is making a name for himself as a bowler with an impressive 19th over on Sunday and also makes a good 20th over against RCP. Green said his cool temperament was the main reason for his success in the game’s backend.
“He’s got a really good head, he’s very calm. It looks kind of made,” Green said.
The right middle handle changes his pace while maintaining a consistent line and length that doesn’t allow batters to take too many liberties.
Madhwal, whose father was an army officer, has also made a name for himself at the local level
Madhwal, who completed a B Tech in Civil Engineering from Engineering College, Roorkee in 2016, made his T20 debut in 2019 and played 25 T20s and took 25 wickets at an economy rate of 7.66.
In the ten first-class matches he has played so far, Madhwal has taken 12 wickets and has an economy of 3.38. On the other hand, in his 17 List A matches, Akash has taken 18 wickets and played at an economy rate of 4.88.
-IANS
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