Akshay Karnewar: Vidarbha's ambidextrous trumpcard

[rkt.india]

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Akshay Karnewar, the left-arm spin version © Prakash Parsekar

 

A week ago, Himachal Pradesh captain and allrounder Bipul Sharma was trying hard to chase down Vidarbha's 183 in a crucial league match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Twenty20. The winner would earn the ticket to enter the Super League.

Bipul, a left-hander, was facing Akshay Karnewar, the Vidarbha left-arm spinner. Bipul, a handy lower-order batsman, dealt with the 22-year-old bowler effortlessly. However, he was stunned when Karnewar told the umpire he was switching to right-arm off spin. "Yeh kaise kya ho sakta hain (how can this be possible)? He [Bipul] was absolutely shocked," Ravi Thakur, Karnewar's room-mate, says.

"Sorry, what?" is an expression the nearly six-foot tall Karnewar has grown used to listening to. Ever since his first coach, noticing the youngster is a left-hand batsman, instructed him to bowl left-arm spin, Karnewar has posed doubts in the batsman and umpires' minds with his double act.

Ambidextrous spinners are a rarity in cricket, and bowling with both arms is something that has only been tried in international cricket for a bit of light relief. But despite his freak talent, Karnewar remains modest.

Karnewar is a quiet individual. He has a thinking mind, but finds it hard to express himself in words. His room-mate Thakur, the Vidarbha fast bowler, pitches in and prompts Karnewar to point out how much of an "important" player he is. "Tell them why you are important player a team should pick. Even if there is a left-right combination it is an advantage for you with your skills to move the ball out to both. The opposition might think you are a left-arm spinner so let us send in a left-hander. But you can move to bowling right-arm offspin and spin the ball away from the left-hander," Thakur points out to Karnewar, to explain why he remains a key player. Karnewar smiles modestly.

Karnewar originally started as a right-arm offspinner when he took up cricket seriously as a 13-year-old. His then coach Balu Navghare, having noticed that Karnewar was doing everything else with his left hand - batting, throwing, everything except writing - encouraged him to try bowling left-arm spin, too. It took Karnewar about two years to feel comfortable and he carried on bowling with both arms.

Another turning point came around 2008 when Karnewar, who comes from the Pandharkawda village in Yavatmal district, attended the Vidarbha Cricket Academy selection trials conducted by the then coach Sulakshan Kulkarni, the former Mumbai wicketkeeper. Kulkarni motivated Karnewar to bowl in BCCI organised tournaments. It might sound simple, bowling with both hands, but it is a daunting task, especially bowling this way at the state level. Karnewar needed confidence and support, both of which was provided by Kulkarni, who asked Karnewar to dare. Dare he did.

Soon Karnewar would play the DY Patil Twenty20, a tournament where a lot of Indian players participate. This was followed by Karnewar attending trials for Rajasthan Royals, about five years ago. Karnewar does not recollect the exact year, but he was not picked.

There is more to Karnewar than his bowling. He is a good batsman, and Thakur stresses Karnewar gets far less credit than he deserves, especially when he can hit the ball easily out of the ground. Thakur even recollects the Vijay Hazare Trophy match against Odisha in Delhi where Vidarbha fell short by four runs chasing 227 for victory. "Chance hi nahin milta batting kar ne ka (I didn't get a chance to bat)," Karnewar says with a smile.

For Karnewar, what is important is to play more matches, bowl smart, and build pressure. Although he is nearly six feet tall, Karnewar delivers the ball with a much flatter arm action. He also does not impart much turn. "My aim always is to maintain a wicket-to-wicket line, bowl dot balls, increase the pressure on the batsman, and I feel that would get me the wickets," he says.

Karnewar reckons he holds the psychological edge always. "There is the doubt in the batsman's mind where he might think, 'If he bowls offspin the ball will come in, and if I pad up to him, I could get bowled.' Also in limited-overs cricket, I can wrap up the overs quickly."

Incidentally, Karnewar has for the first time registered himself for the IPL auction. He says he is not disappointed that no IPL franchise has come forward to recruit him so far. "This is the first time I am playing [for Vidarbha] at the senior level [in Vijay Hazare and Syed Mushtaq Ali]. No one knows about my talent. The more I play, the more it would be reflected, and I would imagine people would take notice."

 

 

Karnewar originally started as a right-arm offspinner when he took up cricket seriously as a 13-year-old. His then coach Balu Navghare, having noticed that Karnewar was doing everything else with his left hand - batting, throwing, everything except writing - encouraged him to try bowling left-arm spin, too

 

 

Former Mumbai and India fast bowler Parash Mhambrey, who is Vidarbha's coach, says he would like to see Karnewar grow. According to Mhambrey, Karnewar is "not a big turner" of the ball and pitch conditions play key role in his success. But the youngster should not be in a hurry to play in the IPL, he says.

"It is a very different craft that he possesses," Mhambrey says. "Somewhere down the line it would be interesting to see him bowl against the top guys. May be a couple of years down the line after he plays a lot more cricket, matures, then we could see him out there. It is a little too early to push him at that level like the IPL."

Mhambrey wants to focus on Karnewar becoming more lethal with his offbreaks, and is planning to bowl him more in the Ranji nets to make him sharper. Karnewar is keen to learn.

Thakur prompts Karnewar to go back to the close defeat against Barodain the first match of the Super League two days ago. Hard-hitting allrounder Hardik Pandya had snatched the match from Vidarbha's grip with a 20-run blast against medium pacer Ravi Jangid in the 15th over.

Asked what he would have bowled to him, Karnewar says: "I would give him [Pandya] a single by pitching short of length outside the off stump. He was ready to step out and hit. But I would have my cover back giving him no chance to hit over the inner circle."

Incidentally, two overs previously, Karnewar had kept Yusuf Pathan in the check. Yusuf had hit Jangid already for a six when Karnewar came on to bowl. "My plan was to vary my speed because if I pitched on one length, he would easily hit me." Yusuf wanted the big hit, but Karnewar did not offer him the width nor the length. Trying to hit over midwicket, Yusuf was beaten by the slow pace of the delivery in the flight and was bowled.

If Yusuf faced left-arm spin, Irfan, the second of the Pathan brothers, had to deal with the offspin. "He said, 'Arrey, offspin,'" Karnewar says. After the match Yusuf praised Karnewar, and was a little awestruck:"Dono haath se sahin dalta kya tu? (You bowl well with both hands or what?)"

http://www.espncricinfo.com/indian-domestic-2015-16/content/story/963119.html

[sandeep]

So coach mambhrey thinks he needs a couple of seasons of "seasoning" before he is ready for big-time cricket.  For all its detractors, the great thing about IPL is that it has given a chance to earn and shine for a 100 cricketers instead of the earlier top 15.  Hopefully, this will lead to the talent pool expansion.  Waiting for the day we find a desi Shane Bond or a desi Wasim Akram (without the fixing ;) ) 

[Vijy]

Saw this dude bowling. Doesn't turn the ball at all, and has an ugly action as well. I don't think he'll progress beyond domestic cricket and maybe a few matches at the IPL. What you need is genuine skills and variations, even when bowling with one hand.