Ashwani Kumar Throws Hat in Purple Cap Race
In the Mumbai Indians' impressive victory over the Gujarat Titans, bowler Ashwani Kumar announced his arrival.
EDMONTON – Ashwani Kumar made an already exciting T20 cricket match hit a new high.
As if it wasn't enough for the Mumbai Indians to thump the Gujarat Titans by 99 runs, the 24-year-old southpaw pacer brought an A-game spell to the April 20 match.
In the IPL's 30th match of the tournament, MI went to bat first. Led by Tilak Varma's 101-run knock on the offensive side of the ball, MI cruised to a 199/5 to 100 victory. Tilak's knock included a match-high eight boundaries and seven sixes.
Ashwani Kumar's Incredible Spell vs Titans
Although Tilak was awarded the Player of the Match award, it could have easily gone to Ashwani. Ashwani's bowling spell was one of the biggest reasons why MI was able to bowl out GT before the Death Overs.
Ashwani's fall of the wickets included Shubman Gill, Rahul Tewatia, Shahrukh Khan, and Rashid Khan. Not bad for Ashwani's maiden spell of the 2026 IPL season.
In the end, Ashwani finished the match with a figure of 4/24. In addition to the four-wicket haul, he finished with an Economy of 6 to go along with 14 dot balls. Ashwani was the only MI bowler to deliver four overs.
Ashwani Enters Purple Cap Race
Although it was his first match of the tournament, Ashwani has now entered the 2026 Purple Cap race in style. A four-wicket haul doesn't come every day for bowlers, but it's becoming that way for Ashwani.
Ashwani is now the eighth bowler to take a four-wicket haul this season. He joins Blessing Muzarabani, Praful Hinge, Rasikh Dar, Sakib Hussain, Jamie Overton, Ravi Bishnoi, and Prasidh Krishna as the only bowlers to snag a four-wicket spell in IPL 2026.
Ashwani is now 38th in the race for the Purple Cap.
The next time that MI fans can watch Ashwani in action will be on Thursday, when they face the Chennai Super Kings.
