While he finished as the second highest run-getter in the 2015-16 Ranji Trophy with 879 runs, Akhil Herwadkar wasn’t among the runs in the semi-final and the final. The 21-year old, Mumbai opener was looking forward to turning things around in the Irani Cup match against Rest of India XI and he did so with a diligently compiled 90 for the team.
While he would be disappointed to have missed out on an opportunity to score a century, he has helped lay a solid foundation for the team in a 193-run opening stand with Jay Bista, which helped Mumbai post 386 for three on the first day after electing to bat.
“I would like to perform against the Rest of India team, it is my first Irani Cup. I would try to fulfil the role assigned to me, which is to see off the new ball if we are batting first,” he had said while talking to BCCI.TV ahead of the match.
“I haven’t scored much in the last couple of games so I would look to score and perform in the Irani Cup,” he had mentioned. After scores of 16, 0 and 0 in the last two matches, asked how he has regrouped for the last multi-day game of the season, Herwadkar said, “I just thought about whatever I had done in the earlier games of Ranji Trophy. I watched my videos and reflected on what my process and mindset was when I was able to score those runs and what I would tell myself during those innings. That is what I intend to follow now.”
Coming out to bat with another youngster, Jay Bista, Herwadkar did what he had done for the better part of the season. He held up one end while his partner took the attack to the opposition. Asked about his role – playing the anchor - he had said, “I used to initially feel whether I can fulfil this role or not, because at the Under-19 level, Under-23 level, my game was attacking. I would play my shots and the batsman at the other end played the role that I am playing now. So for me the challenge here was to anchor the innings and play as many balls as I can. My processes worked.”
Reflecting on the season, he said, “In the first three matches, I wasn’t among runs. But then I got back to working on the basics and didn’t focus much on the number of runs and they came. This is my first full season (with the senior team). I played the T20s, one-dayers and multi-days and played well so I am feeling good.”
Speaking about the processes that he had followed which helped him post a better performance than his previous season, the opener said, “In the off season, I spoke to Vinayak Mane sir. While he told me two-three points about technique, he talked to me more about mental strengthening so that I can come good in Ranji Trophy because the bowlers at this level are cleverer than the ones at the age-group level. He would tell me that for an opening batsman you have to leave the balls early on which I wasn’t doing, I would go for the shots and try to dominate. This is what I changed in my game.”
While he has learnt to bide his time at the crease and assess the situation, Herwadkar has also curbed his shots like playing the flick as he strives to provide stability to the innings. “In the off season when I was talking to Mane sir and then with Chandu sir, he would tell me that instead of playing the flick, play through mid-on, play straight. So I was practicing that. Mane sir would tell me that the game is all about your mindset. I too feel that way,” he said.
Asked if he is tempted to hit the big shots in a line-up filled with stroke-makers, the shy youngster said, “Yes I would feel that way earlier. It had happened in the first couple of games that everyone was dominating and that is my natural game too, but someone has to stay put at one end, especially in the longest format. If one batsman holds one end up, keeps the score board moving and rotates the strike, then we have (Shreyas) Iyer, Surya (Suryakumar Yadav), (Aditya) Tare and others who can dominate. So I just did my role for the team.
“When it used to happen (temptation to hit big shots) initially I wouldn’t look at them. I would stay in my zone. Because if I watched them then unconsciously, I too, would get into that mode,” he elaborated.
While he played the anchor in the longest format, Herwadkar had taken the attack apart in a one-day game for his team while Iyer had stood stoically at the other. Looking back on the innings with a gleam in his eyes, with Iyer listening in, the batsman said, “I hadn’t decided that. It just happened and my strokes were coming good and I was in a flow and so then he held one end he changed his gear.”
The youngster has come quite a distance since plying his trade in junior cricket to being a vital cog in the senior team’s line-up. Analysing the transition, he said, “In the Ranji Trophy and higher levels you have to play the game mentally. You have to anticipate and gauge what the bowler is trying to do. While in age group cricket, you play your game, dominate and things can work out for you. In the Ranji Trophy, you have to change your game. Handling pressure is important.”
Looking back on his first full season with the senior Mumbai team, Herwadkar said, “I am feeling good because I had debuted in 2011 then after that I wasn’t in the team for two years and I wanted to come back. I didn’t think about it too much though. I focussed on my performances and my process and that brought me back in to the Ranji Trophy squad. In the last season, I played six matches but my performance wasn’t that good so this year my focus was to work on that process.”
Speaking about the encouragement he received from his captain and coach, the batsman said, “Tare would tell me to back myself and play my game and not take tension. Chandu sir and I would talk in the off season also about how to play in the Ranji Trophy; which teams we will be up against and how to prepare. So whatever he told me I worked on it during practice. During practice he would tell me about the wicket and conditions that we would be up against and all the related things. I would practice my shots in the nets accordingly. I would try to do the net practice the way I would be playing in a match.”
