All-rounder Ankolekar, the highest paid player (R16.25 lakh) at T20 Mumbai League auction, recalls working very hard on his game to overcome disappointment of going unsold in 2018
Atharva Ankolekar
Left-arm spin bowling all-rounder Atharva Ankolekar edged ahead of young IPL stars Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Ayush Mhatre, besides other promising Mumbai youngsters like Suryansh Shedge and Musheer Khan, to emerge as the highest paid player at the T20 Mumbai League auction at a city hotel on Wednesday.
It was a keen contest between the SoBo Mumbai Falcons, North Mumbai Panthers and Eagle Thane Strikers to get Ankolekar, 24, in their side, and after some intense bidding, the Strikers succeeded in getting the former India U-19 player for Rs 16.25 lakh.
Mhatre, Shedge earn big too
Meanwhile, promising teenaged opener Mhatre, 17, who is showcasing his class for the Chennai Super Kings in the ongoing IPL, was picked up by Triumph Knights Mumbai North East team for Rs 14.75 lakh. The Triumph Knights also picked Shedge, 22, who is playing for Punjab Kings in the IPL, for Rs 13.75 lakh, while Kolkata Knight Riders’s star batter Raghuvanshi went for R14 lakh to Sobo Mumbai Falcons. Young all-rounder Musheer, who is in the Punjab Kings squad, fetched a cool R15 lakh from the ARCS Andheri team.
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Pleasant surprise
Ankolekar was pleasantly surprised to emerge as the costliest buy. “I did not expect to get so much attention at the auction given there were other Mumbai players who are doing well in the IPL. I felt I could get around R10 lakh, but certainly not R16.25 lakh,” Ankolekar, who was watching the auction live on TV at his home, told mid-day on Wednesday.
“While I’m extremely happy to be the most expensive player at the auction, I also realise that my responsibilities have increased now. I will give my 200 per cent in all three departments — bowling, batting and fielding,” added Ankolekar.
Player auctions can be unpredictable places and Ankolekar has witnessed this first hand when he went unsold at the tournament’s inaugural edition in 2018.
“I remember I was very nervous before that first auction in 2018. I had appeared for the selection trials and fared well. I was also a U-19 player then, so I was expecting to be picked, but somehow no one bid for me and I was extremely disappointed. It hurt because I couldn’t understand why I hadn’t been picked. Somehow, I managed to convince myself that I will get more opportunities in the future and began working even harder on my game. Then, in the second edition of the League I was away preparing to play for India in the U-19 World Cup in South Africa. So, this is my first year in the T20 Mumbai League and I’m very excited about it,” explained Ankolekar.
Meanwhile, Ankolekar’s younger brother Parth, who is also a left-arm spin bowling all-rounder, was picked by the Ajinkya Rahane-led Bandra Blasters team for Rs 3 lakh.
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