Wakhare calls time on 19-year career

Nagpur: Under the unforgiving blaze of the early summer sun, Akshay Wakhare stood still, taking one final, lingering glance at the battlefield he had called his own for 19 years. Around him, his teammates erupted in celebration. The moment was his, yet it belonged to Vidarbha too. At 39, time may have caught up with him, but in that fleeting moment, he was still the young boy who had once spun dreams into reality with the red cherry in his hand.
For Wakhare, cricket was never just a sport — it was devotion. As he hung up his boots for the last time, memories must have surged through his mind: the first-class debut in 2006-07, the long spells under the sun, the big scalps that proved his mettle, and the near-miss of an India cap that always danced just beyond his reach.
A tall off-spinner with relentless discipline, Wakhare's journey wasn't a fairytale of instant success. Between 2006-07 and 2013-14, he played only 37 matches — a test not just of skill but of patience. There were days when self-doubt threatened to engulf him, but his brother Anand remained his unwavering pillar. And then, his moment arrived. The 2015-16 season became his breakthrough, the time he finally showed India what he had always known — his craft was ready to shine.
Extra bounce off the surface was his signature, and batters across India felt its sting. In 2016-17, he claimed his career-best match figures of 13 for 162. Vidarbha found in him their bowling lynchpin. That season, his 49 wickets propelled Vidarbha to the Ranji Trophy quarterfinals, and in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, he was just as lethal, bagging 10 wickets in seven matches at an average of 16.70. Even the glamour of the IPL came calling, as Mumbai Indians included him in their squad in 2015 and retained him in 2016, though the elusive game-time never came.
If variety wasn't his strongest suit, Wakhare made consistency his most potent weapon. His deliveries forced the best into submission — Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Gautam Gambhir — all had fallen prey to his precision. So impressive was his 2019-20 season that even Harbhajan Singh saw him as a worthy companion for R Ashwin in the Indian team. "Wakhare gets good bounce off the wicket. If he gets a chance in India with the SG ball, he will be a match-winner," Harbhajan had told Rohit Sharma during an Instagram Live in 2020.
That call never came, but Sunday was not for regrets. It was to celebrate what was — a career built on resilience. The Ranji Trophy glistened under the setting sun as he walked back. It was a poetic farewell for a man who had fought for it with every ounce of his being.