When Akshay traded gloves for ball
   Date :01-May-2020

Akshay Wadkar_1 &nbs
 
 
By Anupam Soni :
 
Parents Vinod and Aruna Wadkar hope son will pay for India 
 
WICKETKEEPER Akshay Wadkar was an important member of Vidarbha team that won its maiden Ranji Trophy and went on to retain it one year later. His contribution behind the stumps as well as in front with willow in his hands was an important factor in the back to back triumphs. But very few people know that Akshay was a leg-spinner before he picked up gloves. And his early skills once bailed out his team from a precarious situation.
 

Akshay Wadkar_1 &nbs 
 
 
“Akshay was in 8th class then. It was an Under-14 DSO match played at Gondia. He opened the innings in that 10-overs-a-side match, hit 6-7 sixes and was the highest scorer. But two rival batsmen had a good partnership and the match was slipping away. His coaches Prashant Kantode sir and Kulkarni sir, who knew Akshay was good bowler too, asked him to get rid of the wicketkeeping gloves and bowl. The trick clicked and Akshay removed two batsmen in an over to tilt the match in his team’s favour. He was declared man of the match. It was a very satisfying moment for me. He batted, kept wickets and then bowled...it was a complete performance and it is still very close to my heart,” recalled fatherVinod Wadkar as he went down memory lane while interacting with ‘The Hitavada’.
 
On Akshay’s early days in sports,Vinod said,“When Akshay was about 11-12, he used to play at Kachipura ground. One Sunday I went there and learned that young boys (of the slum) were using bad words. So that he gets better company, I admitted him in Mujumdar Cricket Academy’s summer camp. There I realised that he had potential of becoming a good sportsperson. “After that camp, for regular fitness and a fixed schedule in life, I enrolled him at Madhav Bakre sir’s NCA (Nagpur Cricket Academy). Sir took interest in him as he was disciplined and a good learner.
 
 
For first two years he used to bowl (leg-spin and medium pace) and bat. But when their regular wicketkeeper did not appear on a few occasions, and as he was very active in fielding, Akshay was asked to keep wickets. I also used to take his keeping practise at home and that helped in his development as a stumper. By 14 he became a full time wicketkeeper.” The father went on, “He led SaraswatiVidyalaya U-14 team in DSO tournaments and was their top player. When he was in tenth he was selected for VCA residential academy. He used to stay in the academy and attend school from there only. We could meet him once a week. At junior college level, he excelled in U-16 DSO events and led Maharashtra team again. He was polite with his team-mates and had any ego.
 
 
The entire team supported him and teachers also liked him for his good behaviour.” But for dengue, Akshay almost made it to the India Under-19 squad. “He was the lone player from Vidarbha who was called for trials at Bangalore Camp. The India junior selectors, including Vidarbha’s Pritam Gandhe, needed two wicketkeepers and three had come for trials. Two days before the trials, Akshay got fever but he took risk and went for trials. But one day prior to the final trials, he was diagnosed with dengue and rendered unfit for further action. His performance was better than the other two and we expected him to be selected in India team,” lamented senior Wadkar, who is Head Clerk with Vasantrao Naik Institute of Arts and Social Sciences (previously Morris College) while remembering the tragic incident