3 min readNew DelhiApr 23, 2026 05:48 PM IST For the fourth season in a row, Uttarakhand seamer Akash Madhwal will find himself playing in the IPL. He sparkled in his debut season, snaring 14 wickets in eight games, five of them coming in a play-off against LSG in 2023, for Mumbai Indians. But a modest 2024 edition saw him being let off. Although Rajasthan Royals grabbed him, he failed to make a significant impact to be retained. Now CSK have drafted him to revive their flailing bowling and season. His journey from Uttarakhand Roorkee is dreamy. Until he was 24, he had never bowled with a cricket ball, confining his tricks to the tennis-ball circuit. Upon his friends’ insistence, he randomly underwent trials and the Uttarakhand state team’s coaches were pleased. “When he came for the trials in 2019. We all were very impressed. He is skiddy and quick with a smooth action. There was an X-factor in him. Wasim (Jaffer) bhai roped him in straight away,” coach Manish Jha had told this newspaper. …