Akash Madhwal

Akash Madhwal is an Indian cricketer. He is well known for his trajectory and ability to get the ball to skid and rip through from a quick-arm action. He honed his skillets to deliver and nail the craft of bowling yorkers during his playing days in Uttarakhand when he was only playing with tennis balls. He also enhanced a great control in delivering yorkers during his early playing days.

He made his Twenty20 cricket debut on 8 November 2019 for Uttarakhand in the 2019–20 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. He made his first-class debut on 25 December 2019 for Uttarakhand in the 2019–20 Ranji Trophy. He made his List A debut on 21 February 2021 for Uttarakhand in the 2020–21 Vijay Hazare Trophy. Ahead of the 2023 domestic season, he was named as the captain of the Uttarakhand side in T20s.

He was recruited by Bangalore as net bowler for the 2021 Indian Premier League. He was roped in initially by Mumbai as a net bowler for the 2022 Indian Premier League but with an injury to Suryakumar Yadav, he was drafted into the squad for the entirety of the season. However, Madhwal didn't play in any of the matches in 2022 season.

Madhwal was not a starter in Mumbai playing XI during the 2023 Indian Premier League. He subsequently got his opportunity and grabbed it with both hands during the league stage match against Punjab at Mohali which eventually marked his debut. Although Madhwal had a tough debut conceding 37 runs off the 3 overs he bowled without a wicket but he showed his glimpses of his death bowling. He became the first Uttarakhand based home grown cricketer to play in Indian Premier League. During the 2023 season, he showcased his bowling repertoire and rose to prominence as Mumbai’s go-to bowler especially in powerplay overs and in death overs especially in the absence of Jofra Archer and Jasprit Bumrah. He stepped up in Mumbai’s virtual knockout do or die match against Hyderabad in the last league phase match by returning with figures of 4/37 despite Hyderabad managed to post total of 200 in the board which was later chased by Mumbai.

During the eliminator match against Lucknow on 24 May 2023, Madhwal delivered his career best bowling figures with figures of 5/5 in 3.3 overs to restrict Lucknow to 101 all out in a high scoring stiff challenging run chase of 183. His figures is also the best bowling figures registered by the bowler in a playoff match in the league’s history. He also broke Ankit Rajpoot's record for registering best bowling figures by an uncapped player and also became the first bowler to take a fifer in a playoff match. He also tied the record of Anil Kumble for taking the most economical five wicket-haul with least number of runs conceded in an innings and it was also his maiden five-wicket haul T20 cricket.