'Head Up, Champ... You Have Greater Things to Achieve': Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard Voice Out Support for MI's Maphaka

What one would have hoped to be a dream start in the IPL turned out to be a nightmare for the 17-year-old South Africa pacer Kwena Maphaka, who made his debut for the Mumbai Indians in their historic clash against the Sunrisers Hyderabad yesterday.

The Protean pacer, who thrived in the U-19 World Cup and was brought in as a replacement for Luke Wood, was hammered for as many as 66 runs in his four-over spell. Despite his best efforts, it just seemed like the left-arm pacer could not recover from SRH opener Travis Head’s fiery onslaught in his second over, where he conceded a whopping 22 runs.

In fact, the spell was so scarring that Maphaka is now the not-so-proud witness to his name being associated with having delivered the most expensive spell by a debutant in an IPL match. He overtook the previous record of 62 runs conceded in a spell, set by Michael Neser for Punjab Kings back in 2013.

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But, despite it all, it is merely the beginning for the youngster, and IPL veterans such as Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard reinstated the same, voicing out their support for the youngster.

“Keep your head up Champ! Kwena Maphaka I’m sure you will definitely bounce back and don’t let this one-off game make you start to doubt yourself, it’s a great challenge for you and you will only get better as the tournament goes on!” Bravo said on a post he uploaded on Instagram.

Pollard, a Mumbai Indians legend and current batting coach, reaffirmed the youngster to stay on track and to take the learnings from the tough outing to build on for his future.

“Head up young man, you have greater things to achieve. I’m sure your family, friends loved ones are very proud of you. tough first day at the office but loved how you kept coming,” said Pollard in his Instagram post.

One can chalk it up to inexperience at the highest level, or even just rough beginnings. But, Maphaka was not the only misfired bullet from the MI ranks, as SRH’s batting trio of Heinrich Klassen, Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head plundered all the MI bowlers at will, as they notched up fiery fifties of their own respectively.

In the end, despite a spirited fight from the MI batters, the visitors ultimately fell short, and handed over a 31-run win to the Sunrisers. But now, all of MI’s focus would be placed on their next match on April 1, when they will face the Rajasthan Royals at Wankhede, as the side remain in search of their first win in the IPL 2024 campaign.