Shivam Mavi

Shivam Mavi, the young fast bowler is a testament to the fact that India has come a long way in producing not only quality medium-pace and spin bowlers but also extreme pace bowlers who can constantly clock 140+ clicks and have the required skill set to perform at the biggest stage.

Table of Contents

1. Career
2. Background

Career

Domestic Career

Mavi had started pretty early in his career as he was selected to play for the Delhi Under-14 team. Despite performing admiringly well for the U14 side, he was rejected for the Under-16 squad which left him devastated.

However, Mavi took this rejection on his chin and switched bases to Greater Noida and started playing for the Delhi Wanderers Cricket Academy. There he got the company of senior players like Anureet Singh and Parvinder Awana, which helped his development.

Shivam Mavi caught the attention of head coach Rahul Dravid while training in the National Cricket Academy camp. He made his debut for the Under-19 national side on 6th February 2017 playing against the England U-19 team in the 4th ODI of the latter’s tour in India. The 5 ft 9 right-hand pace bowler managed to get two wickets from his five overs while conceding 36 runs, putting in an impressive performance.He was then selected for the U-19 team that was scheduled to depart for New Zealand to participate in the 2018 U-19 World Cup.

Shivam Mavi made his List A debut for India A against South Africa A in the Quadrangular Series on 27 August 2018. One of the biggest moment in his Domestic career came during the opening day of the 2018–19 Vijay Hazare Trophy in September 2018 where Mavi took a hat-trick for Uttar Pradesh against Saurashtra.

One month later, the Noida born lad made his Ranji Trophy debut for Uttar Pradesh and took a 4-fer against Goa in Kanpur, as UP bowled Goa out for just 152. In the very next match aginst Odisha, Mavi took his maiden 5=fer in the first-class arena.

U-19 Career

After impressing Rahul Dravid at the NCA, Mavi was selected for the U-19 World Cup to be played in New Zealand. The green, bouncy pitch of New Zealand became the ideal foil for Mavi and his sheer pace. Mavi was at the center of the lethal Indian pace department which lit up the World Cup with some fiery bowling. Mavi, in partnership with Kamlesh Nagarkoti, helped run through the Aussie batting order in the opening game of the tournament, and cemented himself as the opening bowler for the remainder of the tournament, in which he picked up nine wickets with impressive numbers — an average of 18.88 and economy of 4.12.

IPL Career

His U-19 exploits didn’t go unnoticed as the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) snaffled him up for a price of Rs 3 crore. Mavi made his IPL debut in 2018 and went on to represent the two-time champions in nine matches that season, although he could only collect five wickets at an average of 54. He missed the 2019 edition due to injury. The 2020 season is expected to be a breakthrough season for him.

Background

Shivam Mavi was born on 26 November 1998 in Noida. His father Pankaj Mavi works as a government contractor with Noida Authority. Mavi grew up admiring the likes of Dale Steyn who he considers as his idol.

A master of the inswing delivery, Mavi bowls open chested which allows him to swing the ball sharply inside. He uses this combination of pace and movement of the ball to get most of his wickets. While not much has been asked from him with the bat by the national side and is used as lower order batsman, he is essentially an all-rounder who can smack the ball hard which he effectively displayed when he did get to bat. Bowling at a searing pace, he even caught the attention of former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly when he bowled a fiery delivery recorded at 146 kph against Australia in the first match of the U-19 World Cup.