Former India spinner Piyush Chawla was full of praise for the debutant following Mumbai Indians pacer Ashwani Kumar’s impressive four-wicket haul against Kolkata Knight Riders. He pointed out how difficult it is to make such an impact at Wankhede Stadium in the debut match and said the young player’s performance was an incredible achievement despite having little first-class experience.

After just four T20 games on the domestic circuit, the 23-year-old left-arm bowler made his IPL debut for MI on Monday. He became the first Indian to capture four wickets (4-24) in his IPL debut after hitting with his first delivery of the competition and dismissing KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane. He then went on to take the wickets of Manish Pandey, Rinku Singh, and Andre Russell.

Kumar won his first Player of the Match award with his brilliant performance, which helped MI win their first game of the season. It’s never easy to make such a good debut, particularly at Wankhede, which is regarded as a hitting heaven, the way he entered the game. Any bowler gains a great deal of confidence when they get a wicket with the first delivery. He bowled with excellent control and skillfully varied his lengths after that. He did an especially good job of setting up his rejection of Andre Russell.

When Russell entered, he bowled a few bouncers to get him expecting the short ball, and then he cleverly pitched one up to get him out. Coming in at this level and putting on such a show is an amazing accomplishment for a rookie who hasn’t played much first-class cricket, Chawla said on JioHotstar. Rickelton’s effortless half-century was the cherry on top for the hosts, as the South African’s undefeated 62 off 41 balls made sure MI easily chased down 117 in only 12.5 overs, while Ashwani scorched past the KKR batting department to bowl out the visitors to 116 in 16.2 overs.

Regarding Rickelton’s batting display, Chawla said that the wicketkeeper batsman’s innings would give him more self-assurance as the competition goes on. He took a while to get comfortable when he arrived, but he made sure to take advantage of every delivery throughout his window. His handling of Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy, two excellent spinners, was the most remarkable aspect. He played them well, pulling Narine over mid-wicket by moving on the back foot and skillfully playing the reverse sweep.

“It is important that he read their lengths carefully. He will feel much more confident going into the competition after this innings. “You want your openers to set a strong foundation to build victories because it’s a long season,” Chawla said.

Regarding Hardik Pandya’s leadership against KKR, the former India spinner said, “I believe his attacking style was the best aspect of his captaincy.” He made excellent use of the circumstances after carefully reading them and realizing that there was something in the pitch for the seamers. When Harshit Rana was batting at the finish, Vignesh entered to bowl, which was a very good decision in my opinion. Instead of allowing the opposition to score another ten to fifteen runs with Ramandeep Singh still there, you want to take that wicket.

Overall, he made excellent decisions. The game was altered when he introduced Ashwani Kumar into the attack just as Manish Pandey and Rinku Singh were forming a relationship.