Just one bad over spoilt my entire career: Akash Sudan [Exclusive]

Life has been harsh for Akash Sudan, who rues missing out and falling out of favour because of just “one bad over”. The life of professional sportspersons in India is not easy, not least because of a population approaching 1.4 billion, with the vastest pools of talent. 

Having had a keen interest in the sport ever since his school days, Sudan, much like hundreds and thousands of kids on the blocks, dreamed of representing his nation one day. Taking his first step into the professional setup, he joined the RPCA Cricket Academy at Delhi to kickstart his journey. 

Some stellar performances at academy and club level cricket later, he grabbed the attention of one of Delhi’s finest produce, Gautam Gambhir. Sudan bagged 37 wickets in eight matches and eight half-centuries in the 2017 DDCA League, while he had a notable season representing North Zone in the All India Championship 2016/17, where he recorded half-centuries in both semi-final and final against South and West Zone, respectively. 

On his T20 debut (against Goa in 2016 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy), he scripted a never-seen-before record, unmatched to this day: a double-wicket maiden by a debutant. “My double-wicket maiden on was a record that no one else achieved on T20 debut,” he said with a sense of pride.

In the game, a fifer from Shadab Jakati broke the back of Delhi, who tumbled out for a paltry 91. When Goa needed 14 from four overs, the result of the game seemed a foregone conclusion, but Sudan had different plans.

“I did not bowl in that game until the 17th over, because it was a turner and I did not get a chance. In the 18th over, I was given the ball by Gautam bhiaya, when we were nowhere in the game. And we eventually won and qualified for the knockout stage,” Sudan told CricTracker. He had done the unthinkable: he followed his record 18th over with five dot balls in the final over, securing for his team Delhi the unlikeliest of victories as Goa fell short by two runs.

 

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Things, however, would change in quick time for him. In the immediately succeeding game, Sudan had to bear the brunt of a Hardik Pandya onslaught while playing against Baroda, who posed 153/6 on the back of Pandya’s whirlwind 51-ball 81. Pandya smacked five sixes in an over against Sudan, who finished with figures of 2/47 from his four overs. Even as Delhi went on to chase the target successfully, things went south for him and what seemed like a promising career became a soggy tale.

 

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“I made my debut five years back. I have a record of bowling a double-wicket maiden over on my T20 debut. No one has done that. There was an incident in my second T20 where I was hit for five sixes by [Hardik] Pandya in the last over. Even in that game, I bowled 14 dots in the first three overs and took two wickets.”

He sounded distraught revealing what he went through and faced early on in his career but reveals he kept at it without letting it affect too much. “I never played at junior-level cricket, [I] was picked by Gautam Gambhir and Vijay Dahiya sir for the Ranji Trophy straightaway because he was impressed by my bowling at the academy level. Even at that time, there were [negative] things published in the media, which affected me a lot. Now, I am being considered for Test cricket but not in T20s just because of that one over,” he lamented how five balls spoilt his years of toil and a longstanding dream of playing for his nation.

“Last year, I was not even considered in the probables, when there were around 150 players named. If I was not good enough, I would not have been able to play for Delhi. Everyone knows how competitive the Delhi circuit is. But just because of one over I was tagged ‘not good for T20s’. That match was just a bad over or a bad day. All of the good I did got vanished in the next game, and it affected my career and my mind so badly.”

Sudan reveals that he went into a shell and changed completely after the fateful encounter against Baroda. “I suffered a lot mentally. I stopped talking to anyone and felt like things just finished for me… did not step out of my room for weeks and interacted with no one, not even at my home. But I got back on my feet somehow because I did not want to give up.”

“Even [Stuart] Broad was hit for six sixes (by Yuvraj Singh in 2007 T20 World Cup), Ben Stokes was hit for four (by Carlos Brathwaite in 2016 T20 World Cup), if they would not have been backed, there won’t be any Broad or Stokes today. I deserve another chance.”