THE shortest format of cricket — Twenty20, is all about big hitting. Bowlers are more often than not on the receiving end. But Monday belonged to one from that tribe. Vidarbha’s ambidextrous spin bowler Akshay Karnewar, who switches his arms depending upon the batsmen he’s bowling to, carved his name in record books. Karnewar bowled 24 dot balls, that is four maidens in a Twenty20 match, to make a world record. Karnewar conceded no runs picking two wickets against Manipur during Vidarbha’s thumping 167-run win in their Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Twenty20 cricket tournament at the ACA Stadium, Mangalagiri in Vijayawada. No bowler, the world over, has ever bowled four maidens in any Twenty20 match.

 

There have been four occasions when a bowler has bowled three. While Chandigarh’s Gaurav Gambhir bowled all three (out of three) maiden overs against Arunachal Pradesh earlier this year, Tridents’ Mohammaed Irfan, Lions’ Chris Morris and Punjab’s Manpreet Gony all bowled three maiden overs completing their quota of four. A shy and humble person to the core that he is, Karnewar was humility personified in his moment of pride. “My plan was to bowl dot balls. I came just after end of power play and bowled three maidens in a row. Whatever variations I tried today, I made sure that the ball landed in line of the stumps. Keeping it tidy helped me get two wickets also. As all the batsmen were right-handers, I bowled all my overs with let arm today,” said Pandharkawda lad Karnewar while talking to ‘The Hitavada’ over phone from Vijaywada. Karnewar’s childhood coach Balu Navghare, who spotted his ambidextrous talent and shaped him in early days was happy for his ward.

 

“I am very happy for AK (as he is fondly called by his team mates and close ones). He is a very simple but very hard working player. He came to me when he was just 8-9. To bowl all four maidens in T20 cricket is all about being disciplined. Apart from that one needs a strong mind and he is a strong guy mentally. “He was also lucky to have been given a break at an early age (15 years) by Sharad Padhye Sir who runs the Navniketan Cricket Club. He has been playing Guzder League A Division matches since then and that has helped him evolve as a better player,” said Navghare.