KWENA Maphaka, 19, played his first game of the ongoing IPL season and his first in the pink and blue colours of the Rajasthan Royals on Sunday.
The left-arm fast bowler was roped into the Royals side in the auction after the Mumbai Indians released him after only one season and two matches at the iconic Wankhede. The youngster did not have the best of starts to his IPL career last season as he registered combined figures of 1/89 in two games for the Mumbai Indians.
Now in a new team in the 2025 edition of the tournament, the youngster had to bide his time as the Royals already had the World Cup winning fast bowler, England’s Jofra Archer as an overseas speedster.
The teenager finally had his opportunity against the Punjab Kings on Sunday and went on to pick up 1/32 in three overs.
#IPL Kwena Maphaka in pink 💗
FIRST GAME 👏👏
FIRST OVER 👌👌👌
FIRST WICKET! 💥💥💥#IPL2025 #RR #PBKS #SanjuSamson #ShreyasIyer #BCCI #ICC #RRvPBKS pic.twitter.com/TpoXtQyLGJ— Cine Cric (@albi1595) May 18, 2025
On Tuesday, Maphaka earned his second match of the season where the Royals faced Chennai Super Kings, a team with yet another young South African superstar in Dewald Brevis.
With the Rajasthan Royals awarding Maphaka his second consecutive game, it is clear that the coaching staff place their trust in the youngster’s talents.
In other IPL news, the Mumbai Indians have named replacements for Proteas Test opening batter Ryan Rickelton and all-rounder Corbin Bosch, who will depart India on Monday, due to national duty in preparation for the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia in mid-June.
The WTC final, at Lord’s, is exactly weeks away and the Mumbai Indians’ new signings confirm that the Proteas Test players will have ample time to prepare for the match.
The two, along with the rest of the Proteas Test players who are still at the IPL including Lungi Ngidi (Royal Challengers Bangalore), Aiden Markram (Lucknow Super Giants), Kagiso Rabada (Gujarat Titans), Marco Jansen (Punjab Kings) and Tristan Stubbs (Delhi Capitals), will are expected to join the rest of the squad in Arundel in the south of England on May 31.
The squad will then begin their preparations for the four-day warm-up match against Zimbabwe from June 3, before heading to London for the final The match is scheduled to start on June 11.
