Akshay Karnewar displays his ambidextrous skills against Australia

24-year-old orthodox spinner Akshay Karnewar, who is playing for the Board President’s XI against the visiting Australian side displayed impeccable skills which awed both fans and critics alike. The Maharashtra cricketer pulled a rabbit out of his hat when he bowled with both his arms in a single over, an extreme rarity in cricket. Known to bowl with both his hands in domestic cricket for Vidarbha, he presented the Australian batsmen a challenge with ambidextrous bowling style, something rarely witnessed, at least at this level.

Karnewar also succeeded in picking up a wicket with his quirky style. He started as an off-spinner, but the youngster was forced to change his bowling arm after his coach said that left-arm spinners had become quite a rarity in Nagpur. However, as he progressed, he was encouraged by several cricketers, including the likes of Irfan Pathan, to continue plying his unique skill. In 17 first-class games and 13 T20s, he has taken 34 and 10 wickets respectively.

He was eventually picked as one of the 14-members for the warm-up game, captained by Punjab’s Gurkeerat Mann Singh.

Karnewar dismisses Travis Head

Batting first, Australia lost the wicket of Hilton Cartwright early in the innings. David Warner and Steve Smith then took up the responsibility and repaired the early damage with a solid stand worth 106. Glenn Maxwell followed suit, but couldn’t last long, before Marcus Stoinis and Travis Head secured the innings again with another defiant partnership.

Head had reached 65 off 63 balls when he decided to loft out Karnewar, who was bowling off-spin then but could reach only as far as long on, where Sandeep Sharma gobbled up a sharp catch.

The Australian side, fresh from a Test win in Bangladesh, will head to Chennai for the first game of the 5-match ODI series, scheduled to be held on September 17. The following ODI fixtures will be played in Kolkata, Indore, Bangalore, and Nagpur respectively.

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