Mentally strong Vidarbha stumper Akshay Wadkar keeps going

NAGPUR: It's still early days of Akshay Wadkar's career but he has already shown enough maturity.
Wadkar is somebody Vidarbha can trust to go far ahead. After finishing the last season on a high - where he played a significant part in Vidarbha's Ranji and Irani Trophy triumph - the wicketkeeper batsman has started the season with a bang.
On Wednesday, the 23-year-old slammed his fourth hundred in the ongoing MN Dorairajan Trophy to extend his tally to 673 in seven innings.He is currently the highest scorer in the tournament. Ruby Sporting Club's Aniruddha Chore (501, three hundreds) and MSSC opener Akshay Kolhar (500, four fifties) are the other two to have scored more than 500 runs.
In his short career, Wadkar has shown he doesn't take any match lightly and his golden run in Dorairajan Trophy is a testament of that. "He was one of the positives for Vidarbha last season. Right from his junior days, we have watched him closely as he always made runs in pressure situations," a Vidarbha Cricket Association official, who doesn't wish to be named, told TOI.
Wadkar scored a fluent 114 (152b, 14x4 1x6) against MSSC in the semifinal to take Naviniketan Club to a strong position. In the last match against Indian Gymkhana, Wadkar scored hundred in each innings. Wadkar batted for nearly six hours and remained unbeaten till the end to score a strokeful 179 (264b, 24x4, 1x6), while his second hundred (101, 130b) came in crunch situation when the wickets were falling around him.
"He is busy player. Wadkar is somebody who doesn't bother about the reputation of the bowler. His only focus is to score whatever the situation is. You need these kind of players in the team. In the second innings against Indian Gymkhana, he hit just six boundaries still he scored runs at a good rate," the source said.
Coach Chandrakant Pandit trusts his wards abilities and that has played a big role in Wadkar's rise. "Pandit loves players who play for the team and Wadkar definitely comes in that category. He is thorough team man. Wadkar's graph has only gone up after he made his debut against Goa. Now, Pandit wants him to score big hundreds. He is definitely capable of more," said the official.
Despite a couple of failures, Pandit persisted with him in a key match like quarterfinal. Wadkar reposed his coach's faith with twin fifties which guided Vidarbha to their maiden semifinal berth. The right-hander was the lone centurion for Vidarbha in the final against Delhi. When he walked to the crease, the match was still hanging in the balance but his 169-run seventh-wicket stand with Aditya Sarvate took the game beyond Delhi's reach.
"He is mentally very strong. Whenever Wadkar is at the crease, he has calming effect to the dressing room. He might not be technically very sound but he understands his game and plays according to the situation," he said.