Who Is Arshad Khan? Meet The MI Pacer Who Replaced Arjun Tendulkar; Dismissed Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal

Mumbai Indians (MI) made changes in their bowling department in their clash against Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Sunday (April 30) at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium after a few dismal displays with the ball. While the highlight was Jofra Archer's return to the line-up, there was big news with Arjun Tendulkar being dropped from the playing XI.

MI's death bowling woes and Rohit Sharma's lack of trust in Arjun for those overs meant a recall for Arshad Khan into the line-up. Arshad had made his debut earlier this season and, after featuring in three games, was dropped from the side, which led to Arshad's debut.

Memorable comeback for Arshad

Arshad gave a much better impression of himself in this game as he took three vital wickets and justified the pre-season hype surrounding him. The left-arm pacer dismissed RR's middle order stars, Sanju Samson and Shimron Hetmyer, very early for scores of 14 and 8, respectively. He also dismayed Yashasvi Jaiswal in the last over to end his marathon knock of 124 in 62 balls as RR posted a huge score of 211. Arshad was the pick of the bowlers for MI, as he took three wickets, although he was extremely expensive, having conceded 39 runs in just three overs.

Who is Arshad Khan?

Arshad is from Madhya Pradesh, but the 24-year-old does not have much domestic cricket experience, having played just three List A games, one of which came in the 2021 Vijay Hazare Trophy, in which he took just three wickets and scored 40 runs. MI's season opener against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) was Arshad's T20 debut, while he has yet to play a first-class game.

Arshad caught the eye of the cricket fraternity with his performances in the 2019–20 CK Nayudu U-25 Trophy. He was the tournament's highest wicket-taker with 35 scalps while also scoring 400 runs. MI will hope in their chase of 212 that Arshad can show his batting talent too.

MI purchased Arshad Khan for Rs. 20 lakh in the 2022 auction. However, he was ruled out mid-season due to an injury to Kumar Kartikeya.