Mumbai Indians are looking in a strong position to get their first win in IPL 2025 in the ongoing clash against Kolkata Knight Riders at Wankhede Stadium. Putting KKR to bowl first, spearhead MI pacer with the likes of Trent Boult and Deepak Chahar sent both the openers (Quinton de Kock and Sunil Narine) back to pavilion inside two overs with just two runs on board.
After that, 23-year-old Ashwani Kumar, who was playing his debut game in the IPL, shone for MI as he went on to take four wickets. The left-arm pacer got a memorable start to his IPL debut after he dismissed KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane on the very first ball of his spell. Along with that, Ashwani also took big wickets of Manish Pandey, Andre Russell and Rinku Singh, picking up four wickets in his IPL debut. Due to his commendable bowling performance, MI bowled KKR out for 116 runs in 16.2 overs.
Who is Ashwani Kumar
Hailing from Punjab, Ashwani Kumar is a young talented fast bowler who plays for the state in domestic cricket. He has played three first-class matches and as many List A games from Punjab. In his last domestic game, Ashwani registered figures of 3/37 in the Vijay Hazare Trophy fixture against Arunachal Pradesh in Ahmedabad as Punjab registered an easy nine-wicket win.
Ashwani Kumar made his T20 debut for Punjab during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in 2022. He has played four T20 matches for the state so far. He was also a part of Punjab Kings in IPL 2024 but didn;t get a single match. However, Ashwani got picked by MI in the IPL 2025 mega auction as the franchise roped him in for INR 30 Lakhs.
