Who is Ashwani Kumar? Mumbai Indians pacer, taking four wickets on IPL debut, dismissed Ajinkya Rahane on first ball

Ashwani Kumar couldn't have asked for a memorable debut on Monday as the Mumbai Indians pacer dismissed Kolkata Knight Riders captain Ajinkya Rahane on the first ball of his Indian Premier League (IPL) career at the Wankhede Stadium. The left-arm pacer could have got another, had Mitchell Santner held on to the tough chance from Venkatesh Iyer.

In the process, Ashwani Kumar became the second youngster to be handed Mumbai Indians' debut cap in three matches they have played so far after Kerala spinner Vignesh Puthur and Andhra Pradesh's Satyanarayana Raju.

Meanwhile, Ashwani Kumar should thank Tilak Varma for his first IPL wicket, as the India batter juggled a few times before holding on to the ball on the boundary. In the process, Ashwani Kumar became the second Mumbai Indians player and 10th overall to taker a wicket on the first ball of an IPL debut. West Indies' Alzarri Joseph was the first Mumbai Indians player to achieve the same feat in 2019.

Ashwani Kumar creates history

He later went on to dismiss Rinku Singh, Manish Pandey and Andre Russell to finish with 4/24 in his three overs. In the process, Ashwani Kumar became the first Indian ever to take four wickets on IPL debut.

In fact, it was the first time Ashwani Kumar has picked four wickets in a match. His previous best was 3/37 in List A cricket and 1/19 in T20 cricket. He has only played four senior T20 matches prior to his IPL debut, in addition to two Ranji Trophy and four List A matches.

Ashwani Kumar - All you need to know

Born in Jhanjeri, Mohali, Ashwani Kumar is a left-arm pacer who grabbed the eyeballs in the Sher-e-Punjab T20 tournament last year where he impressed everyone with his deceptive bouncer and pace variations. Ashwani Kumar also had a very good wide yorker in his arsenal and was bought by the five-time champions for ₹30 lakh.

Making his debut for the senior Punjab side in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in 2022, Ashwani Kumar played just four games with three wickets to his name at an economy of 8.50. He has also played two First-Class and four List A games for Punjab.

MI vs KKR playing XIs

Kolkata Knight Riders: Quinton de Kock(w), Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Spencer Johnson, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy

Mumbai Indians: Ryan Rickelton, Will Jacks(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya(c), Naman Dhir, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, Ashwani Kumar, Vignesh Puthur

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