Akash Madhwal

Akash Madhwal, an Indian domestic pacer from Uttarakhand, is the first player from the mentioned state team to feature in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Hailing from Roorkee, Uttarakhand, Madhwal is a neighbour to Rishabh Pant. The duo trained under the same coach, Avtar Singh.

The Roorkee-born pursued a degree in civil engineering and played only tennis ball cricket till the age of 24. In a trial, former Uttarakhand head coach Wasim Jaffer noticed Madhwal and brought him in the state side in 2019. He made his First-Class and T20 debut in the same year. 

Not taking much time to make a transition to leather ball cricket, Madhwal was named the T20 captain of the Uttarakhand team ahead of the 2023 season.

While Madhwal was a net bowler for Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2019, bowling to the likes of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers, he went unsold in the IPL 2022 auction.

Destiny opened up a new door for Madhwal as Mumbai Indians, which had him as their net bowler for the 2022 season, roped him in as an injury replacement for Suryakumar Yadav.

The fast bowler made his IPL debut in the following edition of the tournament and basked in glory. He grabbed instant attention, taking the viewers in awe of his pin-point accuracy in delivering yorkers. He bagged figures of 4/37 in the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

In the Eliminator of IPL 2023, Madhwal ended up with figures of 5/5 in 3.3 overs versus Lucknow Super Giants. This is the best bowling figures in an IPL playoff match. He also has the record of registering the best bowling figures by an uncapped player in the IPL. He equalled Anil Kumble’s record of least runs conceded for a five-wicket haul in the history of IPL. Madhwal will eye to replicate similar performances in the 2024 IPL and grow a step further in his career.

(As of February 2024)