Ashwani Kumar ate only one banana before the match but picked 4 wickets: MI bowling coach

Mumbai Indians bowling coach Paras Mhambrey is impressed with left-arm pacer Ashwani Kumar’s impressive debut in the IPL against the Kolkata Knight Riders

Hyderabad: Mumbai Indians bowling coach Paras Mhambrey is impressed with left-arm pacer Ashwani Kumar’s impressive debut in the IPL against the Kolkata Knight Riders.

“To see someone coming in, one first game, under pressure, happy for him. He worked and focused on his strengths and that gave him results. It’s not about performance, it’s about going and enjoying what you do best,” Mhambrey said in a chat with iplt20.com.

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“Left arm seamer who swings the ball and has got a high pace, ticks a lot of boxes for us. Wankhede, we always knew, is a wicket that has a lot of bounce compared to others. He’s the kind of guy who swings the ball at a high pace as well, so we felt it was the right surface for him to pay,” Mhambrey said.

Ashwani, who only ate a banana before the match, credited skipper Hardik Pandya for making him feel at ease on debut and easing his nerves. “It is a very good feeling. I hadn’t thought that I’ll do so well. Hardik bhai told me, ‘you’re from Punjab and Punjabis are fearless, so just scare the opponents and enjoy yourself,” Ashwani said when talking to iplt20.com about the unique advice he received.

The debutant was overjoyed to bag Andre Russell’s wicket in particular. “Manish Pandey had hit me for a four already. Hardik bhai told me to bowl at the body for him. My favourite wicket was Andre Russell’s because he is a very big player. Hardik bhai told me don’t be afraid, so I just wanted to bowl to my plans,” he said.

Ashwani struck off his first ball to dismiss KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane, but not before a fumble from Tilak Varma. Speaking about that moment, Ashwani said when Tilak fumbled, he was just hoping he would take the catch because when you take a wicket off your first ball, the match usually goes well.

“My whole village was very happy because Mumbai is the best team and has a lot of big players,” Ashwani said. “I just had to bowl to my field and I didn’t know I was the first Indian to do this but it feels good. All the seniors support us and tell us to enjoy ourselves. This is the result of a lot of hard work,” he said.