A quick pep talk by his skipper Hardik Pandya lifted the spirits of a nervous Mumbai Indians' debutant in Ashwani Kumar, who didn't look back thereafter on a Monday evening at the Wankhede Stadium, which he made his own with a record-setting spell of fast bowling.
The 23-year-old bowled his heart out to take four wickets (4 for 24), marking it as the first occasion for an Indian bowler to take four wickets on his Indian Premier League (IPL) debut.
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"I didn't know I was the first Indian to do this but it feels good," said Ashwani, while talking to iplt20.com.
Talking about his spell, the debutant, who hails from Jhanjeri in Punjab and bowls left arm, shared the words of his skipper that took his confidence to a different level.
"It is a very good feeling. I hadn't thought that I'd 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.
He struck off the first ball he delivered, dismissing KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane. It is the first instance in the last decade in IPL when an Indian bowler got a wicket with his first ball on debut. It almost turned into a dropped catch, as Tilak Varma juggled before finally catching the ball on the second attempt.
"When he fumbled, I was just hoping he catches it because when you take a wicket off your first ball, the match usually goes well," said Ashwani.
MI's bowling coach, Paras Mhambrey, also weighed in on Ashwani's performance.
"To see someone coming in, first game, under pressure, happy for him. He worked on his strengths and focused on his strengths and that gave him the results. It's not about performance, it's about going in and enjoying what you do the best," Mhambrey said.
"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 and has (bowls at) high pace as well, so we felt it was the right surface for him to play," he explained the decision to pick the young pacer in the playing eleven.
Ashwani was ecstatic talking about the wickets he took, with the dismissal of Andre Russell being his favourite.
"My favourite wicket was Andre Russell's because he is a very big player. Hardik bhai told me to not be afraid, so I just wanted to bowl to my plans."
