No senior domestic cricket. No First-Class debut. No List-A debut. Just a Madhya Pradesh T20 league, two half-centuries in the CK Nayudu Trophy, and a dressing room seat at Delhi Capitals for the better part of two IPL seasons without a match.
And then, on a seaming Dharamsala pitch on May 11 2026, in only his second ever IPL game, Madhav Tiwari dismissed Priyansh Arya, dismissed Cooper Connolly, hit 18 not out off 8 balls under pressure, won the Player of the Match award, and kept DC’s impossible playoff dream alive.
This is not a breakout story. This is a demolition.
Madhav Tiwari Age, Birthplace and Early Life
Born on September 28, 2003, in Mauganj, Madhya Pradesh, Madhav Tiwari is one of the emerging young talents in Indian cricket. He grew up in a small village in one of India’s less prominent cricketing states, far from the academies of Mumbai, the red-soil tracks of Bengaluru, or the factory line of talent that Punjab and Delhi produce. Known for his raw pace and ability to swing the ball both ways, he broke into the limelight with a series of match-winning performances in domestic cricket for Madhya Pradesh.
Madhav Tiwari Domestic Cricket: No Senior Debut, But Already in the IPL
Here is the part of this story that makes it genuinely extraordinary. Tiwari is yet to make his senior First-Class or List-A debut for his domestic team Madhya Pradesh. However, he has represented them at the Under-19 and Under-23 levels. He impressed with his batting in the CK Nayudu Trophy 2024-25, scoring two half-centuries.
Tiwari represented Bhopal Leopards in the 2025 Madhya Pradesh T20 League, where he shared the dressing room with Aniket Verma and played under the captaincy of Arshad Khan. Plucked out of the Madhya Pradesh T20 league, Tiwari considers himself a genuine allrounder. It was performances in that competition that convinced Delhi Capitals to take a punt on a bowler who had never played a List-A game in his life.
Madhav Tiwari IPL Price, Salary and DC Journey
Madhav Tiwari was acquired by Delhi Capitals for Rs 40 lakh at the 2025 IPL mega auction despite having no prior domestic experience. Recognising his immense potential, Delhi Capitals retained him ahead of IPL 2026. Rubbing shoulders with world-class pacers like Mitchell Starc, he has been perfectly placed to sharpen his skills.
He had actually made his debut against PBKS last season, which was called off midway through the first innings due to cross-border tensions between India and Pakistan, and later played again. Tiwari had bowled just one over in that game, conceding 14 runs, and did not make the team when it was replayed. He made his IPL debut in a clash against Mumbai Indians in the 2025 edition, the only game he featured in that tournament. He got out for three runs and did not get a chance to bowl.
Two years at Delhi Capitals. Three runs in his only innings. Zero wickets. Zero senior domestic cricket. Most players at that point quietly disappear into the reserve squad and never get another game.
Madhav Tiwari PBKS vs DC Performance Today
Delhi Capitals youngster Madhav Tiwari delivered a brilliant all-round performance to help his side secure a stunning three-wicket win over Punjab Kings in their IPL 2026 clash in Dharamsala on May 11. The 22-year-old was playing his first match of the season. In the first innings, he impressed with the ball by picking up the two crucial wickets of Punjab’s in-form batters, Priyansh Arya (56) and Cooper Connolly (36).
Not a single over of spin was bowled in the 39 overs sent down overall in Match 55. The last time an IPL clash had this many overs bowled by pacers was all the way back in the inaugural 2008 edition. The rare occurrence kept league’s leading wicket-taker Yuzvendra Chahal away from the ball entirely. Madhav Tiwari was the bowler who stepped into that space and owned it completely.
While chasing a huge target of 211, Delhi slipped to 74 for 4 inside nine overs. The match looked gone. The season looked gone. Madhav played a stunning cameo of 18 not out off just eight balls, including two fours and a six, at a strike rate of 225.00. His impressive all-round performance earned him the Player of the Match award. Auqib Nabi hit the winning six off the last ball of the penultimate over and DC won with six balls to spare.
Madhav Tiwari Bowling Style and Playing Role
Madhav is a 22-year-old pacer from Madhya Pradesh who bowls right-arm medium pace. He is known for his raw pace with the ability to swing the ball both ways and aggressive batting in the lower order. After the match he said: “I would like to say I am a 100 percent bowler and a 100 percent batter. The wicket was helping the length ball. I was trying to mix it with wide ball and short ball. I was prepared to bowl four overs. The conditions were supporting fast bowlers.”
His batting coach Ian Bell told him before the chase: “You got the power, you got everything. Just don’t try to do something fancy. Just hold your shape and react to the ball.” He held his shape. He reacted to the ball. He won his team the game.
What Madhav Tiwari Said After Winning Player of the Match
After collecting the Player of the Match award, Tiwari said: “First of all I would like to thank the management for giving me this opportunity. Lucky enough to be on the winning side. The mindset is that if things are not in your hands, you try to be better in each practice session. I worked on my bowling a lot and my range hitting with my batting coach. It was fun and I am happy I was able to contribute for the team.”
That is the statement of someone who has been waiting for this moment without making noise about it. Two seasons at Delhi Capitals, sitting and watching and practicing. And then one game, in conditions nobody else could read, and a 22-year-old from Mauganj village showed the entire IPL what he had been building toward.
Why Madhav Tiwari Is India’s Next Big Name to Watch
DC made five changes on Monday and seem to have found a promising allrounder who could give them the balance they have been searching for all season. No First-Class cricket. No List-A debut. Two IPL games. One Player of the Match award. One destroyed Priyansh Arya. One chased 211 with six balls to spare]
Madhav Tiwari does not have a domestic résumé to speak of. He has something better right now. He has a Dharamsala pitch report, seaming conditions, Axar Patel trusting him with four overs in a crunch game, and a cameo that kept ten people’s jobs alive for at least one more week. That is not luck. That is a cricketer who was ready when nobody was looking.
Lucky Raina is a complete cricket writer chasing corporate dreams by day and cricket stories by night. Once a promising Under 16 cricketer, life took him down a different pitch but the love for the game never left.
