The Rajasthan Royals’ (RR) biggest problem in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season was taking wickets. That was the biggest reason why they finished 9th, winning just 4 matches. Wanindu Hasaranga was their best wicket-taking option, and 28 bowlers ended with more wickets than he did.
RR’s pace problem
The spinners did okay, but fast bowling was a much bigger problem. Sandeep Sharma wasn’t as good as last year. Jofra Archer showed glimpses of brilliance. But they didn’t know who their 3rd and 4th pacers were. Tushar Despande, Akash Madhwal, and Yudhvir Singh were disappointing.
The most talented pacer after Archer was 19-year-old Kwena Maphaka. RR gave him 2 matches and after that pulled the plug. Despite taking just 1 wicket, he was among RR’s top 10 wicket-takers of the IPL 2025 season, and his numbers were better than Despande, Madhwal, and Yudhvir, albeit after playing fewer games.
But Maphaka’s potential is undeniable. The left-arm pacer was selected not long after his success in the Under-19 World Cup. At 18, he was bowling around 150. South Africa has handed him all format debuts already. Maphaka is special; there’s no denying it.
How Kwena Maphaka can solve it
But is he ready for T20 cricket and IPL, especially? It didn’t look like it did in the last two years. But his time may have come. Maphaka has played 38 T20s and 9 T20Is. He’s still developing as a fast bowler. But with the kind of performance he displayed in the Australia vs South Africa 1st T20I in Darwin, RR will be extremely happy.
Maphaka recorded his career-best T20I figures and 2nd-best T20 figures with a 4-wicket haul. Introduced in the 7th over, he cleaned up Mitchell Owen. Australia had already lost 4 wickets before he came, but he claimed 4 of the remaining 6 wickets. Maphaka varied his pace beautifully, mixing his quick balls with slower ones.
Tim David took him on, but Maphaka didn’t concede any ground. The tall batter was dropped off his bowling, but in the end, he got him anyway. Batting at 83, David had scored over 50% of Australia’s total at the time. Had Maphaka not taken his scalp, South Africa would have been chasing a bigger total.
One of the better things about Maphaka’s 4-fer was also the fact that he bowled in the death overs as well. Having someone who can bowl from the 7th to the 20th over isn’t a common commodity, but Maphaka has that. And remember, he’s just 19 and will only get better from here.
Kwena Maphaka IPL stats
| Matches | Overs | Wickets | Average | Economy | Strike Rate | Best Figures | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 4 | 11 | 2 | 71.5 | 13 | 33 | 1/23 |
| RR (2025) | 2 | 5 | 1 | 54 | 10.80 | 30 | 1/32 |
| MI (2024) | 2 | 6 | 1 | 89 | 14.83 | 36 | 1/23 |
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