WATCH: Rickelton praises Ashwani after dream IPL debut vs KKR
WATCH: Rickelton praises Ashwani after dream IPL debut vs KKR
You are making your Indian Premier League debut. You are playing on the hallowed turf of the Wankhede Stadium. And you respond by picking the wickets of Ajinkya Rahane, Rinku Singh, Manish Pandey and Andre Russell.
No wonder then that Ashwani Kumar – a 23-year-old who hails from Jhanjheri, a village approximately 20 km from Chandigarh – has become a household name since his exploits that led to Mumbai Indians rolling over Kolkata Knight Riders and opening its account in IPL 2025.
Ryan Rickelton, the MI wicketkeeper whose maiden knock of substance ensured the home team improved on the Net Run Rate, admitted that Ashwani – the left-arm pacer – had the element of surprise in his armoury.
“He is a lot quicker than people recognise at first. That’s a great attribute to have,” Rickelton said about Ashwani after Monday night’s game. “He can swing the new ball. It’s obviously quite tough – we have got two specialist bowlers with the new ball as well – but to have a second plan for that swing factor was really impressive. He is a lot quicker than you think and he rushes you a little bit as well.”
Despite being at the receiving end, Kolkata Knight Riders’ allrounder Ramandeep Singh was thrilled with his Punjab teammate especially since they train together at the Launching Pad Cricket Academy in Mohali under the tutelage of Varinder Singh.
“Since we train together, I was looking forward to facing him in the match but it just did not happen tonight,” Ramandeep said, with a chuckle.
Published on Apr 01, 2025
