Ashwani Kumar strikes first ball on debut as Tilak Varma takes juggling catch to dismiss Ajinkya Rahane in MI vs KKR IPL 2025 match [Watch]

Mumbai Indians (MI) debutant Ashwani Kumar had a dream start to his Indian Premier League (IPL) career, taking a wicket off his first ball in the match against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Monday, March 31. The left-arm seamer, who replaced Satyanarayana Raju in the playing XI, was introduced in the bowling attack in the fourth over of the innings, and he dismissed the KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane immediately.

Rahane fell for 11, lofting an outside off-stump delivery from the pacer to the deep backward point boundary where Tilak Varma took a juggling catch.

Here's the dismissal:

By dismissing Rahane, Kumar became only the third MI bowler to take a wicket off his first-ever delivery of his IPL career. West Indies paceman Alzarri Joseph became the first pacer to achieve the feat for the franchise, when he dismissed David Warner in IPL 2019.

Dewald Brevis became the second MI player to take a wicket on his first delivery when he claimed the wicket of Virat Kohli in IPL 2022.

Ashwani Kumar leaves KKR tottering at Wankhede Stadium

Rahane's wicket was the start of a dream evening for Ashwani Kumar. The left-arm seamer also dismissed Rinku Singh, Manish Pandey and Andre Russell to leave the KKR innings in dire straits.

In the process, he became the first-ever Indian bowler to take a four-wicket haul on IPL debut. Along with the wickets, he also took the catch that sent back Quinton de Kock for 1, off Deepak Chahar's bowling.

"Feeling very good, was feeling pressure early but the team environment did not make me feel that way (for long). Just had a banana, there was pressure, so was not feeling very hungry. Had planned a little, but they told me to enjoy myself on debut and bowl what I have been bowling," Kumar said in his mid-innings interview (via ESPNCricinfo).

At the time of writing, KKR were bowled out for 116 runs in 16.2 overs. Angkrish Raghuvanshi top scored for the defending champions with 26.

MI are in search of their first win of IPL 2025 after losing their opening two matches of the season to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Gujarat Titans (GT), respectively. Hardik Pandya won the toss and elected to bowl first, with former captain Rohit Sharma not featuring in the playing XI.

The 37-year-old was later included as an Impact Player and came on the field at the fag end of the KKR innings, replacing left-arm wristspinner Vignesh Puthur.