IPL 2025: Meet Ashwani Kumar, MI bowler who got Ajinkya Rahane’s wicket of the first ball of his IPL career

Ashwani Kumar made his debut for Mumbai Indians against Kolkata Knight Riders at Mumbai’s Wankhede stadium on Monday. The left-arm pacer grabbed a wicket of his very first ball when he accounted for KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane.

The 23-year-old is a death over specialist and was bought by MI for Rs 30 lakh during the 2025 mega auction. Last season, he was also part of Punjab Kings squad but did not feature in the playing 11.

In made his domestic debut for Punjab in the in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in 2022 but has played just four matches. He has three wickets to his credit at an economy of 8.50. Kumar has also played two First-Class and four List A games for his state.

The pacer first made the headline with his performances in the Sher-e-Punjab T20 tournament, Punjab’s T20 cricket tournament. He played for BLV Blasters and ended with best figures of 4/36.

Kumar is not the first domestic player thrown into the mix by MI this season. The five-time champion handed a debut to Kerala’s Vignesh Puthur, a left-arm wrist spinner, against Chennai Super Kings. MI also gave two games to Andhra bowler Satyanarayana Raju this season.