WHEN a 17-year-old Kwena Maphaka took to the field for the first time in the blue colours of the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League earlier this year, there were a lot of expectations on the young fast-bowling prodigy.
With all the weight on his young shoulders, the left-arm paceman had a rather forgetful IPL debut as Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma and Aiden Markram took him to the cleaners at a packed Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.
Maphaka conceded five sixes and seven fours that night, and returned figures of 0/66 as the he endured a baptism of fire.
In his second and final game for captain Hardik Pandyas Mumbai Indians, Maphaka had a much better performance, returning figures of 1/23 and letting the world know why such a decorated team put all their trust in him straight from the Under-19 World Cup.
I probably watched that footage the 0/66 bowling performance four times, and Im probably done watching it back now because I think Ive gotten all the information that I got all the information that I can out of it, Maphaka told the media at a SA20 briefing in Johannesburg this week.
