{{Short description|Indian cricketer (born 1940)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2016}} {{Use Indian English|date=September 2016}} {{Infobox cricketer | name = Akash Lal | image = | country = India | nickname = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1940|10|6|df=yes}} | birth_place = Kapurthala, Punjab, British India | heightft = | heightinch = | heightm = | family = Muni Lal (father), Arun Lal (cousin), Jagdish Lal (uncle) | batting = Right-handed | bowling = | role = Opening batsman | club1 = Patiala | year1 = 1957/58 | clubnumber1 = | club2 = Delhi | year2 = 1959/60–1968/69 | clubnumber2 = | club3 = Punjab | year3 = 1969/70–1975/76 | clubnumber3 = | columns = 1 | column1 = First-class | matches1 = 94 | runs1 = 5,622 | bat avg1 = 41.64 | 100s/50s1 = 15/26 | top score1 = 209* | deliveries1 = 447 | wickets1 = 6 | bowl avg1 = 50.50 | fivefor1 = 0 | tenfor1 = 0 | best bowling1 = 2/21 | catches/stumpings1 = 55/– | date = 30 December | year = 2015 | source = http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/26654.html ESPNcricinfo }}
'''Akash Lal''' (born 6 October 1940) is a former Indian first-class cricketer who mainly played for Delhi and Punjab, and a former Indian team selector.
==Life and career== Akash Lal was born on 6 October 1940 in Kapurthala, Punjab. His father Muni Lal was also a first-class cricketer who played in the 1930s and 1940s.<ref>{{cite web|title=Muni Lal |url-access=subscription |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/39/39984/39984.html|publisher=CricketArchive|access-date=30 December 2015}}</ref> His uncle Jagdish Lal, father of Indian cricketer Arun Lal, had also played first-class cricket for various teams.<ref>{{cite web|title=Jagdish Lal |url-access=subscription |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/39/39259/39259.html|publisher=CricketArchive|access-date=30 December 2015}}</ref>
Lal was a right-handed opening batsman who made his first-class debut for Patiala in the 1957/58 season. He switched to Delhi for the 1959/60 season and played ten seasons for them. He captained Delhi for three seasons from 1965/66. He was in contention for getting selected for the Indian team in 1966. He scored 82 and 4 in a tour match against West Indies at Delhi, but due to his struggle against Garry Sobers' spin bowling and a dropped catch, he was not selected.<ref>{{cite web|title=Akash Lal|url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/india/content/player/26654.html|publisher=ESPNcricinfo|access-date=30 December 2015}}</ref> He moved to Punjab before the 1969/70 season and represented them until the 1975/76 season.
After retirement, Lal became a selector for the Indian national cricket team. He was part of the five-member selection panel that picked Sachin Tendulkar in the Indian team at the age of 16 for his first international tour against Pakistan.<ref>{{cite web|title=An emotional Akash Lal reminisces the day he selected Sachin|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/featured/story/akash-lal-selector-sachin-tendulkar-retirement-213993-2013-10-10|publisher=India Today|access-date=30 December 2015}}</ref> Lal was one of the three members of the panel who voted in favour of Tendulkar's selection.<ref>{{cite web|title=It was 3-2 in Sachin's favour for 1989 Pak tour: Selector Akash Lal|url=http://zeenews.india.com/sports/cricket/sachin%20tendulkar%20retires/it-was-3-2-in-sachin-s-favour-for-1989-pak-tour-selector-akash-lal_770549.html|publisher=Zee News|access-date=30 December 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Cricket ignores man who backed Sachin's inclusion|date=6 November 2013 |url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/cricket/cricket-ignores-man-who-backed-sachin-s-inclusion/story-m2NrXK1dyiIBD8Wx4YQbDJ.html|publisher=Hindustan Times|access-date=30 December 2015}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
== External links == * {{cricinfo|id=26654}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lal, Akash}} Category:1940 births Category:Living people Category:Indian cricketers Category:20th-century Indian sportsmen Category:Delhi cricketers Category:Punjab, India cricketers Category:Patiala cricketers Category:North Zone cricketers Category:India national cricket team selectors Category:People from Kapurthala