IPL 2025: Who is Ashwani Kumar? The Debutant with 4 wickets against KKR
On Monday, March 31, the Indian Premier League 2025 match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians saw something which was unexpected and unheard of. A man from the MI squad, Ashwani Kumar came, saw and conquered!
He was undoubtedly the man of the match, for his fabulous bowling spell, giving away only 24 runs in less than four over and claiming four wickets on his debut match.
Hailing from a small district near Mohali, Jhanjeri, Kumar’s debut performance was something that nobody was prepared for. He created history by becoming the first Indian bowler to take a four-wicket haul on his debut at the Wankhede Stadium.
“I was feeling really good. There was a little pressure earlier, but thanks to the atmosphere of the team, I didn’t feel any pressure”.
The player was quite nervous for his debut and skipped lunch before the evening game. “I didn’t have anything for lunch, I just had a banana. There was a little pressure. I wasn’t feeling hungry,” he said. “But still, I played well, so it’s good.”
Right from his first delivery, he struck a bull’s eye. Ashwani got his first wicket of the KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane. The next to go down was the power-hitter Rinku Singh, caught at deep point. The third to join them was middle-order batsman Manish Pandey, who was bowled three balls later.
In this third over, Ashwani bowled the big man Andre Russell, for 5 and finished the mind-boggling figure of 4 for 24 in three overs.
His IPL debut for Mumbai Indians came after playing just four T20 matches on the domestic circuit, along with two Ranji Trophy and four List A games.
Hitting speed of around 135kph, the fast-medium pacer had impressed in a practice game before the match and showed a range of skills which led to him being picked in Mumbai Indian’s playing XI for their first home game of the season.
The 23 years old left-arm pacer was bought for INR 30 lakhs at the mega auction after carefully spotting by MI’s brilliance talent scouting team, who have a well-earned reputation for identifying top talent.
Ramandeep Singh, KKR’s second-highest scorer of the last evening’s game and a fellow product of Ashwani’s academy, couldn’t face the mate, as the debutant could not complete his full four-over quota.
Both Ramandeep and Ashwani train under coach Vajinder Singh in Chandigarh.
Kumar has rightfully become the second underdog for MI, after Kerala’s wonder boy Vignesh Puthur. This fiery sensation bowled a remarkable spell for his team on his debut, giving him and the Pandya led team the match of their dreams.
Ashwani’s debut heroics place him in an elite list of IPL debutants, alongside Alzarri Jospeh (6 for 12 against SRH in 2019) and Andrew Tye (5 for 17 against Rising Pune Supergiants in 2017), reinforcing his potential as a future match-winner.
By: Tulika Agarwal
