Who is Ashwani Kumar? Mumbai Indians' Left-Arm Pacer Impresses Against KKR In IPL 2025
Ashwani Kumar is a 23-year-old left-arm fast bowler from Mohali who is known for his death bowling. He was signed for Rs 30 lakh by the Mumbai-based franchise in the IPL 2025 mega auction.
Five-time champions Mumbai Indians are taking on Kolkata Knight Riders in the 12th match of IPL 2025 on Monday (March 31). The match between the two star-studded teams is taking place at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. MI captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and opted to field first. For the first home match of the ongoing season, MI have three changes to the playing XI. While Will Jacks and Vignesh Puthur return to the playing XI in place of Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Robin Minz, Ashwani Kumar replaced Andhra Pradesh pacer Satyanarayana Raju.
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The 23-year-old cricketer from Punjab was introduced to the attack in the fourth over of the match by Hardik Pandya, and on the first ball itself, he dismissed KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane. Rahane tried to play a big shot against the left-arm pacer but was caught by Tilak Varma.
Wicket on the first ball on IPL debut for Mumbai Indians
- Ali Murtaza vs RR, 2010 (Naman Ojha)
- Alzarri Joseph vs SRH, 2019 (David Warner)
- Dewald Brevis vs RCB, 2022 (Virat Kohli)
- Ashwani Kumar vs KKR, 2025 (Ajinkya Rahane)*
He then bowled the 11th over of KKR’s innings, and in that he dismissed Rinku Singh and Manish Pandey. While Rinku was caught by Naman Dhir on the third ball, Ashwani breached Pandey’s defence on the last ball of his second over.
On the fourth ball of his third over, the Mohali-based cricketer clean bowled Andre Russell to pick up his fourth wicket of the match.
Best figures on IPL debut
- Alzarri Joseph (MI) – 6/12 vs SRH (2019)
- Andrew Tye (GL) – 5/17 vs RPS (2017)
- Shoaib Akhtar (KKR) – 4/11 vs DD (2008)
- Ashwani Kumar (MI) – 4/24 vs KKR (2025)*
- Kevon Cooper (RR) – 4/26 vs KXIP (2012)
- David Wiese (RCB) – 4/33 vs MI (2015)
Ashwani finished with figures of 4/24 in three overs and, in the process, became the first Indian bowler to take a four-wicket haul on IPL debut.
Who is Ashwani Kumar?
Ashwani is a 23-year-old left-arm medium pacer from Mohali who represents Punjab in domestic cricket. He has played 2 First Class, 4 List A and 4 T20s so far. He has made a name for himself as a death overs specialist who has plenty of variations. Ashwani was signed for Rs 30 lakh by Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2025 mega auctions.
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