When Madhav Tiwari first started going to a cricket academy at the age of 13, he only wanted to become a batter. A decade on, during his first IPL interview, Tiwari impressed upon everyone that, "I am 100% a batter and 100% a bowler." His push towards becoming a seam-bowling allrounder has excited many within the Madhya Pradesh and Delhi Capitals circuit.
After playing just one match in IPL 2025, Tiwari got his opportunity towards the back end of the 2026 season. He picked up four wickets in three games, while striking a handy unbeaten 18 with the bat. These aren't earth-shattering numbers, but he has the makings of a dependable seam-bowling allrounder, capable of accuracy and speeds of 135kph.
In his his first game in IPL 2026, Tiwari made an immediate impact by taking two wickets and scoring an unbeaten 18 runs off eight balls to earn the Player-of-the-Match award against Punjab Kings. In the next game, he took two more wickets against Rajasthan Royals (RR), including that of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.
"In the IPL, my approach was always to learn different and special things from different players," Tiwari told Cricinfo. "I really like the way David Miller hits full-length and yorker deliveries, and I also observed closely the down swing of his bat. So I spoke to him about it. I understood what I could do against him from a bowling standpoint. I didn't try to follow anyone 100%, but I always observed what they did mentally, physically, and in terms of their routines."
Tiwari had already worked on three or four slower-ball variations heading into the IPL. In the nets, he learnt to fine-tune and execute them better while developing an understanding of which deliveries work best in different conditions against different batters.
"The coaching staff gave me the best environment and mindset to learn," Tiwari said. "The way Munaf [Patel] sir talks, he makes cricket simple. No matter how difficult something is, after listening to him, you feel that you can also learn it easily at that level.
"Similarly, Hemang [Badani] sir and Venugopal [Rao] sir worked on some technical aspects of my batting. The best thing about the IPL is that everyone there is very professional and knows exactly what they should do and what they should not do. As a young player, I have gained that same mental clarity, and now I am trying to bring the same intensity into domestic cricket and domestic leagues as well."
It was this mental clarity that gave him the courage to tell his MPT20 side, Ujjain Falcons, to bat him higher up order. He ended up batting at No. 4 in seven of their nine games, hitting 370 runs at a strike rate of 168.94 with three half-centuries. He also took the new ball in six of those nine innings and claimed 13 wickets at a strike rate of 14.90 and an economy rate of 9.80.
The groundwork for Tiwari becoming an allrounder was laid more than 10 years ago by Amay Khurasiya, the former India batter who has been a guiding light to several of Madhya Pradesh's stars, most notably Rajat Patidar, Venkatesh Iyer and Avesh Khan. It's on Khurasiya's insistence that Tiwari eventually started bowling in junior cricket.
"There was a phase when it crossed my mind how easy it is to just bat," Tiwari said. "Your body does not get exhausted, and your back, knees, and legs do not hurt. If you are only batting, a lot of energy is preserved in your body. But during my Under-19 days, I took the second-highest number of wickets for MP, and then I understood that bowling is as important as batting."
Tiwari comes from a family that runs a transport business, and he was intent on joining it until cricket happened. His initial plan was to purse an MBA at 22 if he didn't make it big in cricket. He now hopes to build on his IPL gains and become an all-format regular for MP.
"There was a time when I felt that because of studies and cricket together, I was not able to focus completely on either one," he said. "Initially, it was not as if I had decided that cricket had to be my career and that life would be over if it did not work out.
"But since I had spent nearly seven or eight years of my life in the academy, I felt that I should give cricket one proper chance with complete dedication. So after passing Class 12, I told my mother that I did not want to study further so I could devote my time to cricket. I asked her for two years. All my mother wanted was for me to do something worthwhile in life. I hope that in her eyes, I am doing something now.
"My immediate goal is first to play domestic cricket for my state and win trophies for them. The India dream will follow."
This story was originally published on Cricinfo Hindi.