It has been close to a decade and a half since IPL started. Since then, the tournament has been witness to some fine cricketers. Especially in the bowling department, India has benefited from IPL. There are players who have picked more than a hundred wickets and it is interesting to note that most of them started as newbies in the competition. Therefore, we take you back to the moments when the careers of these bowlers kickstarted. On that note, in this article, we take a look at five popular Indian bowlers and the player whom they dismissed first in IPL history.
1) Jasprit Bumrah (Mumbai Indians) – Virat Kohli (LBW)
One of the biggest outcomes of IPL for Team India is Jasprit Bumrah. Having started out as a specialist in the T20 format, Bumrah has gone on to become one of the best all-format pacers in the game.
For all that Bumrah has achieved so far, it is entirely fitting that his first victim was yet another massive name from IPL – Virat Kohli. It was in IPL 2013 and Bumrah had already surprised many with his unorthodox action. Virat failed to pick him and was eventually caught LBW. Since then, the Mumbai Indians cricketer has picked 144 more scalps.
2) Bhuvneshwar Kumar (Pune Warriors) – Shaun Marsh (Bowled)
When it comes to popular Indian bowlers and the player whom they dismissed first in IPL history, it is Shaun Marsh‘s name that we must talk about in Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s case. Just like Bumrah, Bhuvi also went through his own transition in IPL.
He had made a name for himself as a good swing bowler but over time, Bhuvi improved and perfected his skills at the death. Shaun Marsh was a big name then after winning the Orange Cap in IPL 2008. In 2011, Bhuvi was representing PWI and had the Aussie clean bowled. It was a memorable wicket to start the career for the Uttar Pradesh pacer.
3) Yuzvendra Chahal (Royal Challengers Bangalore) – M Vijay (Bowled)
Although Yuzvendra Chahal started his career in Mumbai Indians, it was in RCB that he picked his first wicket. This happened way back in IPL 2014.
Murali Vijay was an in-form cricketer then and Yuzi made an instant impact when he knocked over the stumps of the Tamil Nadu batter. Chahal went on to become the highest wicket-taker for RCB but he is currently operating at Rajasthan Royals.
4) Mohammed Shami (Kolkata Knight Riders) – Thisara Perera (Bowled)
With regards to Mohammed Shami in the context of famous Indian bowlers and the player whom they dismissed first in IPL history, Thisara Perera is the player in discussion. Shami might not have cemented his place in the T20I team but he still has picked a lot of important wickets in IPL.
It was for his home franchise that Shami made his debut in IPL 2013. He went wicketless in his first two games and was under pressure to deliver. Against SRH, he returned with figures of 1/32, including the crucial wicket of Perera. SRH won the game but Shami had left an impression with his skills.
5) R Ashwin (Chennai Super Kings) – Kumar Sangakkara (Caught & Bowled)
While the likes of Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra and Piyush Chawla had been introduced to T20 cricket by then, R Ashwin was fairly a newcomer. However, Ashwin was quick to display his knack for adapting to different formats successfully.
Against left-handers, Ashwin is almost unplayable. Fittingly, his first wicket was also a left-hander and a good one at that. In that 2009 IPL fixture against Punjab, Ashwin collected two wickets and one of them was that of Sangakkara, who happens to be in the backroom staff of Rajasthan Royals, the same team that Ashwin is representing now.
