"Mumbai Indians' specialty is that they pick an inexpensive player and then make him good" - Aakash Chopra lauds Akash Madhwal's spell vs SRH

Aakash Chopra has lauded the Mumbai Indians (MI) for molding the relatively unknown Akash Madhwal into an excellent bowler.

Madhwal registered figures of 4/37 in four overs as MI restricted the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) to 200/5 in their IPL 2023 clash in Mumbai on Sunday, May 21. Rohit Sharma and Co. then chased down the target with eight wickets and two overs to spare to book their berth in the playoffs after the Royal Challengers Bangalore's (RCB) defeat later in the day.

While reflecting on the Mumbai Indians' bowling in Sunday's game, Chopra heaped praise on Madhwal, saying:

"Akash Madhwal - special mention. Mumbai Indians' specialty is that they pick an inexpensive player, they have a very good scouting team, and then make him good. Just like we are talking about Tilak Varma after two years, we might be talking about Akash Madhwal similarly after another two years."

The former Indian opener was particularly appreciative of the Mumbai Indians seamer's ability to reverse swing the ball and to bowl within the stumps, elaborating:

"He bowled within the three stumps and picked up four wickets. He was the most economical and bowled the best. The ball was tailing a little and hitting the stumps. He dismissed Harry Brook for zero, hit Heinrich Klaasen's stumps - well done. He also picked up Mayank Agarwal's wicket with a short ball. He was brilliant, he bowled extremely well."

Madhwal first dismissed SRH's well-set opening pair of Vivrant Sharma and Mayank Agarwal. He then castled Heinrich Klaasen and Harry Brook with his final two deliveries to help MI restrict the visitors to a slightly below-par score.

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"The bowling is going ordinary" - Aakash Chopra on the Mumbai Indians' issue

Mayank Agarwal and Vivrant Sharma carted the MI bowlers all around the park. [P/C: iplt20.com]

However, Aakash Chopra was not pleased with the Mumbai Indians' overall bowling performance, stating:

"Mumbai won the toss and opted to bowl but the bowling is going ordinary. Mumbai's bowling is not working. Mumbai is struggling and how with their bowling. Vivrant Sharma and Mayank Agarwal played this time and both hit."

The cricketer-turned-commentator praised Vivrant Sharma and Mayank Agarwal for giving SRH a flying start before a flurry of wickets put them behind the eight ball, observing:

"It seemed for a long time whether a wicket would even fall or both of them will only continue playing. Vivrant Sharma was batting for the first time in this tournament. He batted extremely well and Mayank Agarwal, for some reason he comes to his own against Mumbai."

Mayank (83 off 46) and Vivrant (69 off 47) strung together a 140-run opening-wicket partnership in just 13.5 overs. Madhwal's wicket-taking burst then brought MI back into the game and they went on to chase the target with relative ease.