From Setbacks to Success: The Inspiring Journey of Akash Madhwal in Cricket
He played tennis ball cricket until the age of 24. After completing his civil engineering, he started working. In the eliminator match against Rajasthan Royals, he took 5 wickets for 5 runs and kept the hopes alive for Mumbai Indians to reach the final (although ultimately they lost the match against GT in the qualifier 2). In the match before this, he took 4 wickets…
At the age of 29, he made his debut in this year’s IPL. He took just 1 wicket in the first 3 matches. In the next 4 matches, he took 12 wickets. He was the end-storm of this year’s IPL. A storm that stunned everyone…
In the past two seasons, he was a net bowler for Mumbai Indians. Before that, he was a net bowler for Royal Challengers Bangalore for one season. Even in 2019, he primarily played tennis ball cricket…
Akash Madhwal’s story is like a fairytale. But it’s not really a fairytale. With lots of hard work, dedication, and sacrifice, he turned his passion into reality…
During the award ceremony at the end of the match, commentator Harsha Bhogle said, “Everyone says, Akash Madhwal can learn very quickly…!” Akash Madhwal responded quickly with a smile, “Engineers have a certain kind of skill… they have the ability to learn quickly!” Before finishing his statement, Harsha Bhogle laughed and said, “You talked about engineers, I liked it a lot…!”
Harsha himself was an engineer. But he chose the path of love. Akash also walked the same path…
He was born in Dungara, Uttar Pradesh; a small town in India. His father worked in the Indian Armed Forces’ Military Engineering Services. Due to his father’s job, they settled in Roorkee, Uttar Pradesh. It was there that Akash and his brother Ashish Madhwal started playing cricket. Akash even enrolled in an academy. But primarily, he played tennis ball cricket in various parts of Uttarakhand…
In Roorkee, his neighbor was Rishabh Pant. They both had the same childhood coach…
In 2010, Akash’s father passed away at the age of 57. The family became helpless. His mother struggled to manage the household. Akash was only 17 at that time…
Along with sports, he was also good at studies. After completing his higher secondary education, he pursued further studies in engineering at Roorkee College of Engineering. The days of hardship for the family came to an end. But cricket was always on Akash’s mind…!
He continued to play tennis ball cricket. At that time, the BCCI approved membership for the Uttarakhand Cricket Association. Akash then started thinking about cricket in a new way. He pursued the dream of playing cricket as a representative of Uttarakhand. In a trial for Uttarakhand in 2019, he caught the attention of coach Wasim Jaffer…
Jaffer gave him special attention. The officials of the Uttarakhand cricket association also saw something special in him. Because of playing tennis ball cricket, he had mastered the art of bowling yorkers. Along with that, he showed some natural skills with the cricket ball. The campaign to shape him began. In 2019, he made his debut in T20 cricket with the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Days later, he also started playing in the Ranji Trophy…
However, Akash’s real progress began in the 2020–21 season. With his enhanced skills, he tried many things in matches as well. In doing so, he lost the consistency in his bowling. Manish Jha, the then coach of Uttarakhand, started working on his mental aspects in that season…
At one point, the Uttarakhand officials could realize that Akash might bowl with a little more responsibility if he gets a bigger role. He was made the captain of the T20 team of Uttarakhand. He also understood that trying to showcase all his skills on the field is not everything, but it is important to understand the situation and bowl. That thought continued to be reflected in bowling…
However, his acquaintance with IPL was well before that. He was Bangalore’s net bowler in 2019. The scouts of Mumbai had an eye on him. In 2021, he was brought in as Mumbai’s net bowler. He was kept among the support bowlers last season as well. He caught everyone’s attention after playing well at the nets and in the warm-up matches. When Suryakumar Yadav got injured towards the end of last season, Akash was included in the main team in his place.
A new history was born. Uttarakhand’s first IPL cricketer…!
He did not get a chance in the playing XI in the last season. This time, Mumbai included him in the main squad by buying him for 2 million rupees in the auction. This time too the opportunity did not come in the first month. However, with the absence of Jasprit Bumrah due to injury and Jofra Archer being dropped during the tournament, Mumbai needed a suitable pacer for the death overs. Captain Rohit Sharma remembered Akash. He made his debut on May 3 against Punjab Kings. No wicket with 37 runs in 3 overs in the first match. Mumbai still had faith in him. He reciprocated… in a great way…
He had to pay back. Not just for Mumbai, but also to fulfill a promise he made to himself…
Mumbai’s scouts picked him mainly because of his yorker skills. He became known as a yorker specialist in both the Uttarakhand and Mumbai Indians team. Even after getting a chance in IPL, he is showing it. He said frankly that he learned the art of delivering perfect yorkers by playing tennis ball cricket, “I only learned the yorker in tennis ball cricket.” Because there is only one way to live there as a bowler. If it is a little too full or short, it will be hammered for a six in tennis ball cricket. In tennis ball cricket, the yorker has to be perfect. That’s what I brought in here in IPL…”
IPL debut at the age of 29, where his career will take him, and what will be his future, he does not have much thought about these things. Rather, he is looking for the way to the future by diving into this incredibly happy present. “I am enjoying the time now because I am surviving in cricket with a lot of difficulty. I left engineering, left my job, and grasped my passion… If you enjoy your passion, people are cheerful and happy. There is no pressure on me to play cricket. I am playing because I had the passion…”
Harsha finally said to Akash, “Shahenshah of Uttarakhand.” Akash got a little shy at that. But in his own world, he is now Shahenshah! Also synonymous with motivation for many…
This year’s IPL is filled with many inspiring stories, like the rise of Yashashvi Jaiswal and the resurgence of Mohit Sharma among many others but this story caught my attention because being an Engineer myself I found Akash’s story awe-inspiring.