IPL 2025: Mumbai Indians scouts unearth another gem in Ashwani Kumar

The results may have gone up and down for Mumbai Indians but one aspect of their cricket that has never faltered is the consistency of their talent scouts. The five-time IPL champions have one of the most well-established talent spotting programmes in the tournament and their latest find - left-arm pacer Ashwani Kumar - underscored the robustness of that system on Monday. The 23-year-old enjoyed a dream debut at Mumbai's home ground, Wankhede Stadium, by picking up four wickets against Kolkata Knight Riders to hand his team the first win of the season . On an unusually helpful pitch for fast bowlers, Ashwani tore through the Kolkata line-up, picking up 4-24 through pace and late swing. Defending champions Kolkata had been rocked early by new-ball bowlers Trent Boult and Deepak Chahar before they were knocked out by Ashwani, who accounted for captain Ajinkya Rahane, Rinku Singh, Manish Pandey and the dangerous Andre Russell. The wickets of Pandey and Russell were particularly impressive as Ashwani beat the experienced batters with pace and swing to hit the stumps. The young pacer only bowled three overs as Kolkata folded for 116 in 16.2 overs. Mumbai chased down the target with more than seven overs to spare. It was a dream debut for the fast bowler from Punjab, who revealed he was so nervous before the game that he did not even have a proper lunch. "I didn't have anything for lunch, I just had a banana. There was a little pressure. I wasn't feeling hungry," said Ashwani. "But still, I played well, so it's good. " Hardik Pandya said that since it's your debut match, enjoy yourself. Just keep bowling the way you have been," he added. Captain Hardik gave full credit to the bowler and Mumbai's extensive talent scouting network. "We thought Ashwani can come in on this pitch and bowl the way he bowled. It is all the scouts - they picked him," said Hardik. "They have gone to all the places and picked these young kids. We played a practice game, he had that zip, that late swing, something off the wicket, a different action and he was a leftie." The captain would know a thing or two about Mumbai's eye for talent. After all he, along with his brother Krunal, were picked by Mumbai scouts back in 2014. A year before that, former India coach and Mumbai's foremost talent spotter John Wright had stumbled upon an unusual fast bowler during a domestic match in Ahmedabad before the IPL auction and quickly snapped him up. Jasprit Bumrah went on to become the biggest success story of Mumbai's vision and also the foremost fast bowler in the world. Even left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav was earmarked by Mumbai Indians in 2012, although he developed his career elsewhere. This year, Mumbai had already given a glimpse of the their talent supply chain when they gave the ball to Kerala left-arm spinner Vignesh Puthur against Chennai Super Kings. Puthur almost turned the match around in his very first outing, picking up three wickets with his deceptive wrist spin at Chepauk. The fact that the 24-year-old had not even represented his state showed how diligent Mumbai are in their work. Ashwani, on the other hand, had already represented Punjab at domestic level and was on the radar of other franchises like Punjab and Chennai. But it was Mumbai who picked him up at base price in the auction. It's one thing to pick young talent. To field them straightaway takes conviction. Mumbai have done that consistently this season as well, also backing wicketkeeper batsman Robin Minz - the first cricketer from India's tribal community in IPL. Other teams also have promising local players on their bench but no one comes even close to Mumbai when it comes to spotting and then backing young talent.

IPL 2025: Mumbai Indians scouts unearth another gem in Ashwani Kumar

Left-arm fast bowler picks up four wickets on debut against Kolkata