Former Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh hailed Ashwani Kumar after Mumbai Indians registered an eight-wicket win against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Monday. Kumar, who was making his IPL debut, got off to a dream start, dismissing KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane on the first ball he bowled.
Subsequently, he dismissed Rinku Singh and Manish Pandey in the same over. The left-arm seamer also got the big wicket of Andre Russell and returned with impressive figures of 4-24 in the three overs he bowled. The 23-year-old from Mohali registered the best bowling figures for an Indian bowler on IPL debut. Furthermore, he became the first Indian bowler to take four wickets on debut.
Harbhajan Singh said on Star Sports, “Luck was with him today. It was his day. It was written that he would play the match and win the Player of the Match award because when do you see someone bowling his first ball of his IPL career, that too when he got an opportunity to play for such a big team, and picking up a wicket.”
The Turbanator said he would have given the fourth over to Ashwani Kumar to give him a chance to take a five-wicket haul.
“It was a good day for him. If I had been there, I would have given him one more over. He wouldn’t have taken four, but five wickets. We had asked for four wickets in the first six overs, and we got those four. We had asked for five wickets for him also, but he didn’t get another over, or else he would have taken five wickets,” Harbhajan added.
The former Punjab spinner said the youngster proved his mettle on the big stage despite not having much experience under his belt. Kumar was able to get the seam movement and reaped rewards for bowling in the right areas.
“He got the wicket of Rahane, a dependable batter who you would want to get out. If you dismiss batters like Rahane and Rinku (Singh), your confidence goes sky-high. The ball he bowled to Manish Pandey, it pitched on the seam and came in. Then he dismissed Russell. He showed his mettle, that the guy has the might,” he said.
Harbhajan gave full marks to Ashwani Kumar for his bowling but noted that he fumbled a bit in the field.
“There is a lot of pressure on you when you are playing your first match. It’s not that easy for a fast bowler to bowl at the Wankhede, but when you get a wicket off the first ball, the nerves get settled a lot. He did drop one or two catches, but 10 out of 10 marks for his bowling,” Harbhajan observed.
Mumbai Indians will next take on Lucknow Super Giants at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow on Friday.
