IPL 2025: Who is Ashwani Kumar, the 23-year-old who took four wickets on debut for Mumbai Indians?
IPL 2025: Who is Ashwani Kumar, the 23-year-old who took four wickets on debut for Mumbai Indians?
For the second time in three games this IPL season, Mumbai Indians’ talent scouting team has earned praise. Last week, leggie Vignesh Puthur made a memorable debut in Chennai; this week, left-arm pacer Ashwani Kumar stole the spotlight in Mumbai’s home opener.
Despite having played in two Ranji Trophy matches (last in 2022), three Vijay Hazare Trophy games (last in 2022), and four Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy matches (2024) for Punjab, Ashwani had never picked more than three wickets in any format.
But on Monday, Ashwani made a statement with four wickets, including some of the biggest names in the IPL. His spell was instrumental in Mumbai Indians’ four-pronged pace attack dismantling Kolkata Knight Riders for just 116 runs.
At 23, Ashwani was largely seen as a back-up pacer for Punjab, but MI scouts spotted his precision, especially his ability to bowl wide yorkers consistently, during last year’s Sher-E-Punjab Trophy. Not many noticed when MI secured him at the IPL auction in Jeddah last year. But against KKR, Ashwani needed just one ball to grab the headlines.
With Trent Boult and Deepak Chahar accounting for the KKR openers in their respective first overs, the Knight Riders’ hopes rested on captain Ajinkya Rahane. In his first over, Ashwani’s opening delivery pitched wide outside off stump, Rahane sliced it, and Tilak Varma grabbed the top-edge on his second attempt. The wicket put Ashwani on the map.
When reintroduced in the 11th over, Ashwani’s double strike dashed KKR’s comeback hopes. He dismissed Rinku Singh, caught by Nanam Dhir at deep point, and then bowled Manish Pandey off his pads with a perfect delivery that left the batter stranded.
But Ashwani wasn’t done. In his next over, he took down Andre Russell with a full delivery that rattled the West Indian’s stumps, completing a dream debut.
Published on Mar 31, 2025
