Shreevats Goswami reminds fans of former 16-year-old RCB player after Kwena Maphaka debut goes wrong

Mapakha created an unwanted record of conceding the most runs in an IPL innings by an overseas player after leaking 66 runs in his allotted 4 overs.
 By Chandra Moulee Das Mar 28, 2024, 18:50 IST
Kwena Maphaka?width=963&height=541&resizemode=4

Mumbai Indians (MI) made a bold move to hand 16-year-old Kwen Maphaka his Indian Premier League (IPL 2024) debut last night against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). Secured by MI as a replacement for injured Dilshan Madushanka, Maphaka became the youngest debutant in MI's history. 

The Proteas pacer, who stole the limelight during the U-19 WC earlier this year however failed to replicate the success in his maiden IPL outing. 

In fact, he created an unwanted record of conceding the most runs in an IPL innings by an overseas player after leaking 66 runs in his allotted 4 overs. Starting with a relatively controlled first over where he conceded seven runs, bhe struggled in the 3rd over, being hit for 22 runs as Aussie opener Travis Head and Indian talent Abhishek Sharma took him to the cleaners. 

Following his unimpressive show, India's former U-19 star Shreevats Goswami has extended his backing to the youngster. Goswami drew parallels with another India star who had a similar fate as Maphaka and then gradually fell down the preference order. 

ALSO READ: India star served with show-cause by state board after shocking captaincy controversy

Shreevats Goswami gives a stark reminder

Goswami took to X (formerly Twitter) and wrote, "Like kwena maphaka , I remember my talented bengal teammate prayas ray Barman , who was only 16 yrs & 157 days young back in 2019, he made his ipl debut against us (Srh ) - same ground ,bowling against an in form Warner & Bairstow, they did target him, and took him apart. He was written off after that . Prayas never played ipl after that and also got limited opportunities in his state team afterwards."

The tweet further read, "However he has continued to perform decently in his age group cricket . There are times where we forget that we must back our own boys too . He’s only 21 now & I hope people / selectors recognise that players needs time & certain amount of backing to flourish . I really hope he comes back strong cause he still has plenty of cricket left in him."

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