Mumbai Indians (MI) announced South Africa's Under-19 pace sensation Kwena Maphaka as a replacement for an injured Sri Lankan pacer Dilshan Madushanka. The left-arm Sri Lankan pacer Madushanka suffered a left hamstring injury during the Bangladesh series. He was expected to miss the initial stages but has been ruled out of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.
Maphaka was the highest wicket-taker in the Under-19 World Cup 2024. He picked up 21 wickets from six games at an average of 9.71. He picked up a record-breaking three five-wicket hauls in the tournament. His tally of 21 wickets is the most by a bowler in a single edition of the Under-19 World Cup.
What Maphaka has in his armoury?
Maphaka has played in two Under-19 World Cups. Earlier this year, he helped South Africa reach the semi-finals but they lost to India in a close encounter. The left-arm pacer troubled batters with his pace and bouncers. He is capable of bowling over 140kmph. In addition to yorkers, he can deceive batters with slower balls as well.
Maphaka's Rabada connection
Maphaka was a prodigy in gymnastics, athletics, tennis and hockey but he chose to play cricket. Interestingly, he studies in the same school as the South Africa senior team's pace-bowling spearhead Kagiso Rabada, the St. Stithians. The teenager is still in the final year of high school.
Maphaka's T20 numbers
The Johannesburg-born bowler was picked by SA20 League franchise Paarl Royals. So far, he has played nine T20s (domestic) and taken 13 wickets including a four-fer at an average of 16.53. His economy rate of 6.71 is impressive as well.
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Steal deal for Mumbai Indians
The 17-year-old will join the five-time IPL champions for his base price of Rs 50 lakh. On the other hand, Madushanka was picked for Rs 4.60 crore by MI in the auction after a bidding war with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).
The Hardik Pandya-led side will begin their IPL 2024 campaign against Gujarat Titans (GT) at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on March 20.
MI Team's IPL 2024 SQUAD
| Wicketkeepers | Batters | All-rounders | Bowlers |
| Ishan Kishan | Rohit Sharma | Hardik Pandya (c) | Jasprit Bumrah |
| Vishnu Vinod | Tim David (AUS) | Romario Shepherd (WI) | Luke Wood (ENG) |
| Suryakumar Yadav | Nehal Wadhera | Kumar Kartikeya | |
| N. Tilak Varma | Shams Mulani | Akash Madhwal | |
| Dewald Brevis (SA) | Gerald Coetzee (SA) | Arjun Tendulkar | |
| Mohammad Nabi (AFG) | Piyush Chawla | ||
| Shivalik Sharma | Kwena Maphaka (SA) | ||
| Naman Dhir | Nuwan Thushara (SL) | ||
| Anshul Kamboj | |||
| Shreyas Gopal |
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