Mumbai: In a case of extreme bad luck, TOI has learnt that Mumbai’s left-arm spinning all-rounder Atharva Ankolekar will be forced to miss what would have been his maiden stint in the IPL — he was bought for his base price of Rs 30 lakh by the Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2026 auction on Dec 16 last year — after undergoing knee surgery due to a recent injury.
Ankolekar was ruled out of the rest of the Ranji Trophy season after tearing his meniscus during a Ranji Trophy match between Mumbai and Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad in January. The 25-year-old, who was fielding at long-on, got injured while sliding to save a boundary and was eventually stretchered off the ground.
“Ankolekar’s surgery was performed by Dr Dinshaw Pardiwalla at the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in Mumbai. He has a ‘locked knee.’ It’s just a case of terrible timing. He has lost an opportunity of a lifetime,” a source tracking developments told this paper on Saturday.
On May 7 last year, Ankolekar became the most expensive T20 Mumbai League player when he was bought by Eagle Thane Strikers for Rs 16.25 lakh at the auction.
Ankolekar played for the India Under-19 team in the U-19 World Cup in 2020 and has taken 19 wickets in 25 T20s at 30.47, while scoring 135 runs at 16.87 at a strike rate of 156.97.
He was one of the key performers for Mumbai in their Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy triumph in the 2024-25 season, taking three wickets in four matches at 19.00 with an economy rate of 6.33, besides chipping in with a crucial six-ball 16 not out in the thrilling five-wicket win over Madhya Pradesh in the final at Bengaluru.
