Ashwani Kumar, a 23-year-old pacer, played his debut match in IPL under Mumbai Indian franchise. It was a perfect start for his career in IPL as he took the wicket of cricket sensation Ajinkya Rahane with his first ball of the tournament. After this magical wicket, he has made headlines.
Kumar has been added to the playing eleven of Mumbai Indians in place of Satyanarayan Raju and proved himself by dismissing Rahane, who is the captain of Kolkata Knight Riders.
How was Rahane dismissed?
Rahane miscued his first shot against Kumar, which guided the ball to Tilak Varma, who was fielding at deep backward point. Initially, Varma fumbled and dropped to catch, but at that, he completed the catch, and hence, Ashwani started his celebrations.
As the match continued, Ashwani Kumar also took wickets for great batters Rinku Singh, Manish Pandey, and Andre Russell.
Kumar made a record as he became the only Indian bowler to take 4 wickets on his IPL debut.
Who is Ashwani Kumar?
Ashwani Kumar was born in Mohali on August 29, 2001. Kumar made his name in cricket after his performance in the Sher-e-Punjab T20 tournament. He is well-known for bowling during the death overs of the match.
IPL franchise Mumbai Indians bought the player for approximately Rs 30 lakh during the mega auction.
This was not Kumar’s first IPL; he was earlier selected for Punjab Kings but did not become a part of the playing squad in 2024.
His cricket career started in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in 2022, and he played for Punjab in four matches. During this tournament, he took three wickets, with an economy of 8.5. Along with this, he also represented Punjab in two first-class matches and four List-A games.
MI vs KKR -
The match is being played at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) was stopped at just 116 runs in 16.2 overs.