“I think it cut off the wicket pretty well; I wasn’t that quick.” “To be honest, I don’t think I bothered him (laughs),” Rushil Ugarkar stated modestly following his revelation of how he humiliated Hanuma Vihari during an NCA net session in Bengaluru.
Although Ugarkar, then 17 years old, may not have been as quick or as fiery to annoy Vihari or the other Indian batters that day consistently, he leapt forward four years. He soon taunted Jason Roy with some banana swing and scolded David Miller by chopping off half of a peach.
At five feet nine inches, Ugarkar, sporting a crew cut, possesses a wiry build. His face and physique hardly resemble those of a frightening fast bowler. However, he has surprising speed both off the wicket and in the air. Despite suffering from food poisoning in the days preceding the event, he consistently had times in the early 130s in the two games he played for MI New York this MLC season.
When Ugarkar debuted against the LA Knight Riders, he weighed roughly 8 pounds less than usual. Despite this, he overcame his physical weakness with a brilliant spell of 15 runs in his three overs. Captain Keiron Pollard was so thrilled with his debut that he called it a “bloody good spell.”
While the rest of our contingent yelled New York, I yelled MI! It gave me a huge confidence boost. One thing I learned from that competition is how playable I think this level of cricket is. All I have to do is work hard and maintain physical and emotional development as a player,” Ugarkar remarked.
After being selected as their rookie pick, Ugarkar was surrounded by some fast-bowling royalty in the MI contingent. In the MI ranks, Trent Boult, Kagiso Rabada, and Anrich Nortje constituted a formidable fast-bowling combination, enhanced by including Lasith Malinga.
Ugarkar said it was an excellent learning experience. According to the Betpro website, Ugarkar acknowledges that Malinga’s guidance on the techniques and tactics of contemporary T20 cricket, which he was ignorant of, helped him broaden his horizons.
The best part was working with Malinga. He had taught me a great deal about cricket, which I knew very little about. We also collaborated with the video analyzer.
They have an enormous number of matchups prepared. He, therefore, enjoys going out frequently with someone like Faf. He moves in your direction. I was instructed to bowl at the comprehensive line if I witnessed him leaving. Thus, it would bubble to the fielder positioned there if he slashed. Or perhaps a ball that moves more slowly.”
A former student of the Ebenezer school in Bengaluru, where he was bench mate with American cricket star Sanjay Krishnamurthy, Ugarkar was not as successful as Krishnamurthy in the cricketing circles and was therefore not selected to compete in BCCI age group tournaments. Following the outbreak, Ugarkar accompanied Krishnamurthy to the states. However, his career soon encountered a roadblock.
Incredibly, Ugarkar was unable to guarantee a position in his zonal U19 squad for the 2021 USA National U19 Championships. Even though Ugarkar was one of the best young fast bowlers in the nation at the time, his questionable exclusion from the team prepared him for the arduous journey ahead.
Ugarkar finally found success with the Dallas Mustangs in the 2023 season, having spent a few seasons in the minor leagues, primarily warming the bench. Throughout the competition, he took 17 wickets in 29 overs, which was crucial to the Mustangs’ title run.
At Mustangs, he ran into Pakistani internationals Rumman Raees and Ehsan Adil, among others. Ugarkar easily exceeded the older professionals’ season-long wicket total, surpassing them in terms of impact. At the 2024 MLC player draft, the MI New York selected him for a rookie contract based only on his performance in the previous year’s minor leagues.
To rejoin Krishnamurthy at the East Bay Blazers for the 2024 campaign, Ugarkar has now relocated to the West. With a three-run home run against the Silicon Valley Strikers last week, he made a grand opening for the 2024 Minor League Cricket season.
Ugarkar is back on the road, roaring in with the same enthusiasm as he did in the MLC but on glitzier wheels, following a fantastic first stint with MI New York.
Among the Pakistani internationals he encountered at Mustangs were Rumman Raees and Ehsan Adil. Ugarkar outperformed the senior professionals in terms of effect and greatly outscored them in the season-long wicket total. The MI New York chose him for a rookie contract at the 2024 MLC player draft solely based on his success in the minor leagues the year prior.
After the tournament, the Kiwi gives him Trent Boult’s bowling shoes, which he rushes in with. Something he values highly as his property. Put another way, it’s highly symbolic for a child to walk in Boult’s footsteps. However, for now, the youthful Ugarkar should enjoy those Hot Wheels without being concerned about their weight.