Promising young batsman Akhil Herwadkar turns hero with the ball to hand Mumbai crucial victory

Akhil Herwadkar was known as a promising batting talent: after Sunday he is being hailed as an all-rounder

20-year-old Akhil Herwadkar was known till Sunday as a future prospect for the Indian team as an opening batsman, but his incredible heroics for Mumbai against Punjab on the final day of their Ranji Trophy encounter has shown him in completely new light – the matchwinning spin bowler Mumbai have been lacking ever since the days of Ramesh Powar.

The promising young left-handed opener has featured in the India U-19 teams in the 2012 and 2014 World Cups, and has already shown his deftness with the bat, but his bowling skills were an unknown entity till now.

Having picked up only two first-class wickets till the match, few would have tipped Herwadkar to turn in the winning shift for Mumbai, as Punjab looked poised to force the match into a draw on the final day. As Mumbai’s strike bowlers seemed out of ideas to get Mandeep Singh out, the part-time off break bowler decided the time was ripe to set the stage alight.

He got Yuvraj Singh out from behind his legs late on Saturday, as a sign of what was to come. He found a rough spot on the pitch early on Sunday and soon accounted for the wickets of Mandeep Singh(116), Gitansh Khera (86), Siddharth Kaul (9), Sarabjeet Ladda (0) and Barinder Singh (15).

At the end of the day, Herwadkar had registered career best bowling figures of 6/56, and had helped Mumbai register their first win of the season by an innings and 7 runs – a bonus point win that sees the 40-time Ranji champions sit comfortably at the top of Group B. Herwadkar’s bowling exploits, not even heard of much before, earned him the best bowling figures in the high-octane clash.

Roles were reversed on Sunday: Herwadkar

The youngster said to Mumbai Mirror, “I have bowled in Ranji ODIs so it was just a matter of what wickets would suit me and where I need to be used. I saw a good rough patch developing because of their lefthanded paceman Barinder Singh Sran. I knew it would suit me.”

Herwadkar might have turned into an overnight hero for Mumbai, but talked modestly about his ‘contribution’.

On the prized wicket of Yuvraj Singh, he said, "I planned to bowl straight to him and I got his wicket. I wasn't expecting this kind of a haul, but I knew if I did my job, the wickets would come.

"My role is to limit the runs and build the pressure, so that the genuine bowlers can take the wickets, but I think the roles were reversed today. I think I will be able to sleep well tonight."