Ashwini dismissed KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane on the first ball of his IPL career and achieved the feat. Before Ashwini for Mumbai, Ali Murtaza, Alzari Joseph, and Dewald Brevis took wickets on the first ball of the debut match.
In his inaugural match of the IPL, a fast bowler with the Mumbai Indians by the name of Ashwini Kumar left an impression. Ashwini now becomes the fourth bowler to have taken a wicket off the first ball in his debut match for Mumbai. The left-arm quick was included by the Mumbai Indians in the playing eleven for the match against KKR, and he proved his worth by clean-bowling Suyash Sharma off the very first ball he bowled.
Rahane became the first victim
Ashwini dismissed KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane on the first ball of his IPL career and achieved the feat. Before Ashwini’s run for Mumbai, Ali Murtaza, Alzari Joseph, and Dewald Brevis took wickets on the first ball of the debut match. Ashwini Kumar made his IPL debut in this match and was seen in deadly form. Apart from Rahane, Ashwini made Rinku Singh, Manish Pandey, and Andre Russell his victims.
Ashwini joins the special list
Overall, Ashwini is the 10th bowler to take a wicket on the first ball of the debut match in IPL. Before Ashwini, Mathisha Pathirana was the last bowler to achieve this feat in the IPL. Pathirana did this in 2022 by dismissing Shubman Gill of the Gujarat Titans. Apart from Ashwini, Ishant Sharma, Wilkin Mota, Shane Harwood, Amit Singh, Charl Langdewaite, Ali Murtaza, TP Sudhindra, Alzari Joseph, and Pathirana have done this.
Fourth-best performance in IPL debut
Ashwin Kumar took four wickets for 11 runs in three overs on debut. This is the fourth-best performance by a bowler on debut in IPL history. This performance of Ashwini is the best performance by an Indian on debut. The record for the best performance on debut in IPL is held by Alzari Joseph, who took six wickets for 12 runs against Sunrisers Hyderabad while playing for Mumbai Indians in 2019.
Who is Ashwini Kumar?
Ashwini Kumar is a Punjab bowler known for his variety of bowling. Ashwini impressed the Mumbai Indians scouts with his brilliant performance in the Sher-e Punjab T20 Trophy 2024. Ashwini impressed a lot with death bowling in that tournament. He made his debut for Punjab in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2022 but got a chance to play in only four matches. Ashwini also played two first-class and four List-A matches for Punjab. Mumbai Indians bought Ashwini for Rs 30 lakh in the mega auction for IPL 2025. Ashwini was a part of Punjab Kings last season, but he was not included in the playing 11 in even a single match.
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