Going beyond ‘nets’ - the rise of the unknown and forgotten

Akash Madhwal

Tushar Deshpande

What’s common between Tushar Deshpande, Mohit Sharma and Akash Madhwal? They were all net bowlers with their respective franchises before being inducted into the main squad as replacements for injured internationals. Another common feature among them is that all three come from franchises that are known for identifying talent and nurturing it well.

In a long league, where seven Indians are a must in a playing 11 and injuries are inevitable, having ready replacements is critical to a team’s campaign. All franchises, therefore, prefer to have talented Indians in ‘nets’. They are not only utilised to provide practice to players in the main squad, but also are groomed to be ready should the situation demand.

Chennai Super Kings drafted Deshpande when a majority of their first-choice pacers got injured before or during the course of the ongoing Indian Premier League. While left-arm seamer Mukesh Choudhary had been ruled out before the start of the 16th edition, Ben Stokes and Simarjeet Singh were still recuperating when they joined the team. Deepak Chahar and South African import Sisanda Magala sustained injuries at various stages of the tournament though the former has recovered from a hamstring injury.

A desperate CSK summoned the services of the Mumbai pacer Deshpande. And how well has he responded?! With 21 wickets, the burly right-armer is the highest wicket-taker for the four-time champions. Though he has been on the wrong side of the economy, conceding 9.61 runs per over, he has often given CSK the breakthroughs that have tilted the balance of the match in their favour.

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Mohit has represented India in 26 ODIs, including in the 2015 World Cup in Australia, and eight T20Is. But the Haryana bowler had no qualms in joining the Gujarat Titans as their net bowler once he went out of Indian selectors’ radar and subsequently lost the faith of IPL franchises as well. It wasn’t difficult for the wily right-arm pacer, with loads of experience under someone like MS Dhoni (both for India and CSK), to impress the GT think-tank. And it wasn’t long before the Haryana quick was turning the clock back with his death bowling. With 24 scalps, he is GT’s third-highest wicket-taker in the league behind team-mates Mohammed Shami (28) and Rashid Khan (26).

Akash Madhwal, Uttarakhand’s engineer-turned-pacer, is an even more inspiring tale. Nothing more justifies IPL’s motto - “where talent meets opportunity” - than Madhwal’s rise to prominence. For someone, who started bowling with the red ball only at 24, Madhwal has been phenomenal for Mumbai Indians, who were desperately looking for an impact pacer after Jasprit Bumrah and Jofra Archer were ruled out. With 14 wickets in their last eight matches, including a fifer (5/5) in the Eliminator against Lucknow Super Giants, the 29-year-old quick emerged as Rohit’s go-to man in a short time.

That’s the beauty and, as well as, the irony of this league where a proven international bought for over Rs 18 crore blows cold, but a net bowler picked with no choice left goes on to light up the tournament. Welcome to IPL!