The 29-year-old from Uttarakhand was trained by his state coach Manish Jha to ‘just play fast and not worry about leaks’. Akash has fully imbibed this philosophy and supports his skills wherever he goes.
The mid-paced Mumbai Indians put on a fast bowling display on Wednesday and the Lucknow Super Giants were its unfortunate victims.
Madhwal stayed a good length on or around the stump and extracted enough pace and movement from the pitch to rush batters, and with his magic 5/5 figures in 3.3 overs he became the premier bowler to claim a transport of five wickets. in an IPL playoff match.
Although he will treasure the five scalps, Madhwal enjoyed Nicholas Pooran’s breakthrough the most, not only because of the enormity of the wicket, but also the delivery he played – in the outside lane, straightening up after throwing to catch Pooran’s outside edge. It was a delivery that would have worked on all formats.
Performance stemmed from clarity on what he had to do.
“The wicket at Chepauk was good. As you have seen, the ball was not grippy but skidded. I am a pitcher-type bowler and I threw my deliveries hard in pursuit of wickets,” Madhwal said.
This conventional test-style bowling skill is a newly acquired skill for the couturier, who had only played tennis ball cricket until 2018. The yorker was his specialty, and in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah and Jofra Archer is what MI chose him. For.
Madhwal said, “I learned the art of bowling from Yorkers through tennis ball cricket. There, it is the only delivery that saves you. Everything else counts as six, so your yorkers must be perfect.
Skipper Rohit Sharma watched him closely in the net and saw that he was also doing well with the new ball. Soon, he was entrusted with the opening of the bowling alley, and Madhwal, an engineer by training, also succeeded in this mission.
“I just focus on practice and execution. Engineers tend to learn quickly,” he said wryly.
Rohit said he had no apprehension about trusting Madhwal.
“Once Jofra left we knew we needed someone to play at the back and having seen enough of him I was confident he could do the job for us. He has a lot of skills, a good attitude and a lot of character too,” Rohit said.
After an indifferent start to the season, the Uttarakhand lad has gradually improved and with form and confidence on his side, MI would be keen for Madhwal to make an encore against Gujarat Titans on Friday.
