Having played just four T20s before Monday, the left-arm seamer became the first Indian to take a four-for on IPL debut
Vishal Dikshit31-Mar-20251:36
Aaron: ‘Skiddy’ Ashwani quicker than batters expected
Ashwani Kumar hails from Jhanjeri, a village in the Mohali district of Punjab. He belongs to a humble family that couldn’t afford to pay for his cricket. He still found ways to get around Punjab to play the game and did well enough to earn a first-class debut at the age of 18. But then a hamstring injury took him off the field.Two seasons later, he returned to the Punjab side but got just one game in the Ranji Trophy and one in the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy. And then another three white-ball games in the 2022-23 season. He was too “raw” then, not very fit, and Punjab had enough pace options in the side at the time.Ashwani then joined the Launching Pad Cricket Academy in Chandigarh in 2023. Soon after that, he got picked for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in the 2024-25 season as a back-up in the pace attack led by Arshdeep Singh. But, even before he could get a game, came the IPL mega auction. In 2024, Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) had already spotted something in Ashwani to bring him on board as a net bowler, and PBKS even pulled some strings to ensure he went to their camp and not CSK’s.Related
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Before the auction ahead of IPL 2025, Ashwani appeared for trials at both CSK and Mumbai Indians (MI), and the MI scouts are believed to have been impressed by what they saw: his ability to rush batters despite not being express and the ability to swing the new ball as well as pound it into the pitch, as well as other variations. MI’s scouts – whom captain Hardik Pandya credited after Monday’s win over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) – were on the prowl before the auction and made sure the MI management picked two domestic unknowns for INR 30 lakh each to bolster the pace unit – Satyanarayana Raju and Ashwani, who had played only five domestic games at the time.Before IPL 2025 started, Ashwani went back to the academy in Chandigarh to spend time with his coach Varinder Singh and specifically worked on his fitness, his non-bowling arm, and his strength and conditioning. The Ashwani that showed up in the MI camp a couple of months later had a stronger action and a more athletic body.One of the first things Ashwani’s Punjab coach Wasim Jaffer and team-mate Ramandeep Singh – who was his opponent on Monday night – mentioned was his work ethic. “He works tirelessly in the nets, he’s very sincere and he wants to keep improving,” Jaffer told ESPNcricinfo. “He has a lot of things – he can hit 140kph, he has a bouncer, a yorker, a slower ball. I’m so happy he went to the right franchise.”Ashwani Kumar celebrates after having Rinku Singh hole out•Associated PressWhen IPL 2025 started, MI had to deal with Jasprit Bumrah’s absence and two losses in their first two games. Being the only team without any points before Monday’s game, MI could have played it safe by retaining Raju in the XI – he at least has some IPL experience to show. But they took a punt by leaving Raju out and named a fourth IPL Indian debutant in three games, after Raju, Vignesh Puthur and Robin Minz.Playing at home, where conditions are better for their bowling attack, Trent Boult and Deepak Chahar finally struck in tandem. But even though Chahar got the big wicket of Quinton de Kock in his first over, Hardik replaced him with Ashwani for the fourth over. Ashwani had known earlier in the day about his imminent IPL debut, and he was so nervous he could barely have lunch. When Hardik gave Ashwani the ball, he asked him to “enjoy yourself”. And that Ashwani did by striking with his first ball in the IPL in front of thousands of home fans and went on to become the first Indian to bag a four-for in his maiden IPL appearance.That he got Ajinkya Rahane and Rinku Singh as his first two wickets wasn’t even the best part of his day at work. Three balls after he had sent Rinku back, in the 11th over, Ashwani sent one down with a slightly scrambled seam at just short of 137kph. But the way the ball curved from outside leg to hit the top of leg stump, making Manish Pandey look late on the shot, showed that the 23-year-old had a trick or two up his sleeve.”He’s a lot quicker than people recognise at first,” Ryan Rickelton said of Ashwani. “I think that’s a great attribute to have. He can swing the new ball. I know it’s obviously quite tough – we’ve got two specialist bowlers with the new ball as well – but to have a second plan for that swing factor was really impressive. He’s a lot quicker than you think and he rushes you a little bit as well.”Ashwani Kumar is mobbed by Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya after his first-ball strike•Associated PressAnd then Ashwani did it again in his next over. Against the might and muscle of Andre Russell, Ashwani bowled one at 140.7kph – another scrambled-seam delivery that took the top of middle stump, and the Wankhede was in raptures because the crowd knew that with KKR 88 for 8, the game was almost done.”[When] we played a practice game, [we saw] he had that zip, he had that little late swing, something off the wicket, and had a different action and plus, he was a lefty,” Hardik said of Ashwani’s arsenal at the presentation. “This wicket offered a little more and we thought that Ashwani can come and bowl the way he bowls, and I’m really, really happy for him.”Ashwani could hardly believe that he was taking home the Player-of-the-Match award. “This is a very big thing for me that I got an opportunity like this,” he said. “I didn’t think I would be the Man of the Match in my first match. I just wanted to follow my process and do my bit, that’s it, but it turned out very well. I was completely confident [about performing in front of a big crowd] but still I was a little nervous before the match. It was just a little bit of ‘what will happen’.”The MI management “backed him” like they backed Puthur and Raju, and even Hardik all those years ago. You never know what turn life takes – to fast-track an unknown from a small town to Mumbai and make thousands of fans scream your name in a packed stadium, whether you are Puthur, Raju or Ashwani. He has shown the potential and has the support of one of the most successful franchises in T20 cricket, but as Ramandeep said after the game, “he has a long way to go.”