Jhathavedh Subramanyan: Meet this Hong Kong wrist-spinner picked by Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2024 Auction
The Indian Premier League (IPL) is known to unveil exciting and inspiring stories every year during the auction. Several unknown players come into the limelight, and Jhathavedh Subramanyan is the latest addition to the list. Sold for INR 20 Lakhs to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Jhathavedh was born in Hong Kong but later moved to the United Kingdom before eventually landing in Chennai to focus on his cricket dream.
It has been a rollercoaster ride for the 24-year-old Jhathavedh Subramanyan. He started his cricketing career at Hong Kong Cricket Club before moving to the UK for further studies. During the pandemic, Jhathavedh came to Chennai and is now part of the biggest cricketing league.
Jhathavedh Subramanyan is a crafty leg-spinner who can also bowl left-arm fingerspin. He can turn googlies at a rapid pace while also shuffling his pace to bowl leg breaks with a loopy trajectory. He busted onto the scene during his magical performance in the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) final this year.
While playing for Lyca Kovai Kings, Jhathavedh snared as many as four wickets while conceding only 21 runs in the final held in Tirunelveli. He took 11 wickets at 19.72 runs apiece in nine innings in the tournament. It was precisely a breakthrough season Jhathavedh needed to take a giant leap in his career.
Jhathavedh was previously part of Madurai Panthers for two years but didn’t feature in any game. However, his craft impressed the Kovai Kings skipper Shahrukh Khan at the Vijay CC nets ahead of the 2023 season and included him in his team via auction. Jhathavedh didn’t disappoint and played a significant role in the title-winning run of Lyca Kovai Kings.
“I didn't really get a chance to play in Madurai, but I had the opportunity to interact with amazing cricketers. Having Varun Chakravarthy is great and he's also a legspinner/mystery spinner. Shahrukh backed me from the first game at Lyca and it was amazing to be a part of that group. We gelled together as a group and we're really good friends off the field as well, and that was probably the secret to us doing well,” told Jhathavedh to ESPNcricinfo.
Jhathavedh was one of the SRH’s net bowlers during the UAE leg of IPL 2021, and he learnt a lot from Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman. His biggest learning was bowling with different grips to make subtle changes and be more effective. Jhathavedh has also credited Laxman Sivaramakrishnan and S Ramky for his improvement in bowling, while the former also helped him settle in India and get involved in the domestic arena.
Jhathavedh used to visit the training camps of Sivaramakrishnan even when he lived in Hong Kong and worked on his bowling action and the art of varying pace.
“I actually first met LS sir in 2016. LS sir and Ramky sir from Sports Mechanics have really helped me, in terms of my bowling. LS sir's approach to coaching and legspin bowling is very different to what I was used to in the past. He has a big emphasis on the action, so he works backwards, starting from the balance in the delivery stride and then going back step-by-step to your run-up and everything. Luckily, I was a side-on bowler as well and he used to be a side-on bowler as well,” revealed Jhathavedh to ESPNcricinfo.
Jhathavedh has completed his masters in Banking and Finance from London's King's College. However, he wishes to continue rising in the domestic arena of Tamil Nadu. Like Varun Chakravarthy, Jhathavedh also wants to make a career out of cricket.
Jhathavedh has massive control over his lengths and can vary pace significantly. He generally bowls quicker googlies and slower leg breaks, and it has been really effective for him. The 24-year-old is a genuine wicket-taker, and SRH got a terrific deal by acquiring him at a base price. Jhathavedh has also played two First Class games for Durham MCCU and five List A matches for Hong Kong.
Jhathavedh Subramanyan’s rise has been significant, and if he performs in IPL, his career graph will see a steep rise. From Hong Kong to IPL, Jhathavedh has travelled a long way. And he won’t be in the mood to stop anytime quickly.
Credits: ESPNcricinfo and Sportskeeda
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