Ashwini Kumar took the 2025 IPL by storm |Courtesy - BCCI/IPL
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- Ashwini Kumar took the 2025 IPL by storm
- Ashwini took four wickets on IPL debut
- Ashwini played just four T20 games for Punjab
No franchise in Indian Premier League (IPL) has unearthed young talent from the wilderness as well as Mumbai Indians (MI), and a new chapter on their history was written by Ashwini Kumar, who scripted history on his Indian Premier League (IPL) debut against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Wankhede Stadium.
Ashwini made a dream start by taking the wicket of Ajinkya Rahane on the first ball of his debut game for the franchise. The 23-year-old became only the 10th player in IPL history to get a first-ball wicket on debut. Later, he dismissed Rinku Singh, Manish Pandey, and Andre Russell. The left-arm pacer is the first Indian to take a four-wicket haul on debut in the IPL and finished with figures of 4-24 in three overs.
Who Is Ashwini Kumar - The Boy From Jhanjeri?
Ashwini comes from the Jhanjeri, a village in the Mohali district of Punjab. Before his IPL debut, Ashwini was a relatively unknown name as he had just played four T20 matches for Punjab in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy despite making his debut in 2022. He made his first class debut in 2019 but has played just two matches in the Ranji Trophy and four List-A games.
Ashwini was spotted by MI scouts in the 2024-25 Sher-E-Punjab Trophy where his ability to bowl in the death caught the eye. He picked up 11 wickets in seven matches while representing the Agri King's Knights.
At the 2025 IPL Mega Auction, MI signed the pacer for Rs. 30 Lakhs to the visible delight of head coach Mahela Jayawardene.
From a humble background, Ashwini's family struggled to pay for his cricket and went through a lot of hardship.Ashwini's family revealed to Indian Express that the pacer trained at the PCA Stadium in Mohali and borrowed Rs. 30 to go by a shared auto and train from 5 am to 10 PM everyday. The pacer also struggled to find cricket buys and needed the help of his friends to pool money. After securing a Rs. 30 Lakh deal in the IPL auction, the MI star distributed cricket kits and balls in academies around his village.
After losing a couple of years to injury, he joined the Launching Pad Cricket Academy in 2023. As per a report by EspnCricinfo, he also attended trials for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) before the mega-auction. He was also part of the Punjab Kings (PBKS) camp in the 2024 season as a net bowler.
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