New Delhi: Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya was ecstatic after his team registered their first victory of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 on Monday. Taking on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at home – the Wankhede Stadium, MI clinically beat them by eight wickets, riding on the back of debutant Ashwani Kumar’s brilliant four-wicket haul that decimated the visitors in the first innings of the game.
Young talent Ashwani Kumar was unearthed by the famous scouting team of Mumbai Indians and the left-arm pacer bore fruits for his team by making a dream debut in the IPL. Pandya credited the MI scouts for bringing these fresh talents to the spotlight, who often go unnoticed. MI had opted to bowl first and Kumar had started breathing fire from the get-go.
His brilliant display of bowling helped MI bundle out KKR for 116 before they chased down the target in 12.5 overs. Kumar notably became the first Indian to take four wickets on an IPL debut and was also adjudged the Player of the Match for his heroics.
“It’s always a challenge of picking one guy here and there. With our team it’s pretty sorted with the players who we are backing. This wicket just offered a bit more and we thought Ashwani can come in and bowl the way he bowled. First of all, it’s all because of the scouts. All MI scouts have gone all the places and picked these young kids,” Pandya said at the post-match presentation.
Pandya reasoned for Ashwani’s selection in the XI, saying that the team played a practice game and it looked as if he had that zip and late swing with a different action, plus being a leftie.
Collective batting failure – Rahane
Rahane, who was going pretty well with the bat in the previous two games of KKR, fell cheaply on 11 to Kumar, becoming his first-ever IPL scalp. Rahane was sent packing on the first delivery of Kumar’s spell, and the KKR skipper admitted it was a collective batting failure from his team. “Collective batting failure, it was a good wicket to bat on. 180-190 would have been a good total on this pitch. We expect that (here), it has good bounce,” Rahane said.
Ashwani Kumar announced himself in the Indian Premier League (IPL) with some style, picking up a four-fer in his debut game and proving match-winner for MI against KKR on Monday. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
