He got the big wickets of Rahane, Rinku, Russell, and Pandey.
Ashwani Kumar, who was handed his Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 debut by the Mumbai Indians (MI) in the ongoing clash against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), ended up scripting history with his impressive bowling spell.
Ashwani registered the best bowling figures on IPL debut by an Indian after finishing with a spell of 3-0-24-4. He is also the first Indian to take a 4-wicket haul on IPL debut.
In the process, Ashwani joined the ranks of Alzarri Joseph (6/12), Andrew Tye (5/17), and Shoaib Akhtar (4/11) – the top three names to have the best bowling spell on debut. Overall, Ashwani has the fourth-best figures.
The 23-year-old pace sensation got the key wickets of Ajinkya Rahane, Rinku Singh, Manish Pandey, and Andre Russell as the KKR batting lineup crumbled in Wankhede.
Speaking at the mid-innings break after achieving the feat, Ashwani said, “I felt very good, there was pressure but the team environment helped me to settle down. I didn’t have lunch today, I only ate a banana, there was some pressure so I didn’t feel hungry. I made a bit of plan, they (team management) told me that it’s my debut match so enjoy yourself and back your skills.”
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Speaking about the MI vs KKR match, the defending champions struggled after KKR put them to bat first. The three-time IPL winners registered the lowest score of the season as they were bowled out for 116 in 16.2 overs. Apart from Ashwani, Deepak Chahar got two scalps while all the other bowlers got one wicket apiece.
For KKR, Angkrish Raghuvanshi top scored with a 16-ball 26. Ramandeep Singh slammed a quickfire cameo of 12-ball 22 towards the backend to give the KKR bowlers something to fight with.
At the time of writing this report, the Mumbai Indians have begun their chase. The MI scoreboard read 1 for 0 in 0.2 overs. Rohit Sharma and Ryan Rickelton are currently batting at the crease.
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