Meet Anshul Kamboj: Mumbai Indians pacer experiences mixed fortunes on IPL debut

Anshul Kamboj is a 23-year-old right-arm pacer and a handy batter in the lower order from Haryana.
 By Darpan Jain Updated: May 6, 2024, 22:38 IST
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While he conceded 42 runs and could only dismiss a solitary batter, Anshul showed immense potential to be a regular for Mumbai Indians in the upcoming editions.

After winning the toss against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya elected to field first in the 56th match of IPL 2024. When asked about the change in personnel, Hardik told Anshul Kamboj is making his IPL debut, replacing the South African speedster Gerald Coetzee.

Anshul Kamboj is a 23-year-old right-arm pacer and a handy batter in the lower order from Haryana. Mumbai Indians picked Anshul Kamboj at his base price of INR 20 Lakhs in the IPL 2024 auction.

Before joining MI, Kamboj was part of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), where he honed his skills as a net bowler by working with some of the greats of the game. Sharing his experience with CricketNext, Kamboj disclosed his progress as a bowler and his learnings from Virat Kohli.

"Actually, it was my first experience of being a net bowler [with RCB]. I thought some team would pick me. It was a very good experience, I had a very good interaction with some international players, and they helped me to deal with different situations. I got a very good idea of training both during the season and during off-season, so I got to learn a lot from RCB camp. I learnt a lot from Kohli, his body language was great."

Anshul made his First Class debut in Haryana's fixture against Tripura in Delhi in 2022. Then, he debuted in List A and T20 formats later in the same year and has been a consistent performer for Haryana since.

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Anshul has 24 wickets at an average of 38.91 and a strike rate of 71.50 in 21 FC innings. He has 23 wickets at an average of 18.82 and a strike rate of 29.43 in 15 List A games while snaring 11 wickets at 13 balls apiece in nine T20 outings.

Anshul first starred in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2023/24, picking up 7 wickets at an average of 17.14 and a 14.57 strike rate in seven innings. He conceded only 7.05 runs per over after bowling 17 overs in the tournament.

In the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2023/24, Kamboj was Haryana’s third-leading wicket-taker, snaring 17 wickets at an average of 16 and a strike rate of 26.76 in ten innings. His economy rate of 3.58 was the best among his teammates, playing a pivotal role in helping Haryana win the competition.

In 2019, Kamboj featured in two U-19 Tests for India U-19 against South Africa U-19 in Thiruvananthapuram. He took seven wickets in two matches for his team.

While debuting for Mumbai Indians, Anshul made an impact immediately, dismissing a dangerous Travis Head in his second over by uprooting his stumps. But, he overstepped, and that dreaded siren took away all smiles from his and his teammates' faces, and Head got a lifeline.

However, Anshul finally got a wicket in his next over by sending Mayank Agarwal back with a fine delivery. He bowled a length delivery, and the batter tried to heave it towards the off-stump by giving himself some room but missed it completely, and the ball crashed the stumps in a flash to hand Anshul a well-deserved maiden IPL wicket.

Before the IPL 2024 auction, Ravichandran Ashwin praised Anshul on his YouTube channel, claiming he would get multiple bids from different teams. Ashwin felt Kamboj had something special in him.

"If he doesn’t get multiple bids, I will be very, very, very surprised. Mark my words. This boy [has] got something. Recently he played for Haryana. He’s been doing the rounds. He’s been in the scheme of things for U19 cricket. He has really worked on his fitness, bowling a heavy ball."

While he conceded 42 runs and could only dismiss a solitary batter, Anshul showed immense potential to be a regular for Mumbai Indians in the upcoming editions. MI are known to unearth such talents and have found another bright one in Anshul.

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