Musheer Khan made headlines despite getting out for a duck in his first-ever IPL match. This happened during the first qualifier of the 2025 season between Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur on May 29. PBKS picked him up for Rs. 30 Lakhs in the 2025 Mega Auction, but he hadn’t played in any season until now.
Musheer was brought in as a last-minute substitute when Punjab’s batting fell apart, losing six wickets for just 60 runs in over eight. Even though he wasn’t in the starting lineup, he came in as an impact player, even though it was originally planned for him to be a bowler alongside Vijaykumar Vyshak and Pravin Dubey.
This match signified not just his IPL debut but also the first T20 match of his career—he hadn’t played in that format before. Musheer has played nine first-class matches but hadn’t made his List A debut. He became the first ever to make a T20 debut during a playoff game. While many have debuted in the IPL, none did so in a playoff before him.
He’s also the second player in IPL history to have his debut in a playoff game, following Sunny Gupta, who had a similar experience in 2012. Musheer got out after facing just three balls but did manage to take a wicket, bowling two overs and dismissing Mayank Agarwal while giving away 27 runs. This made him the first to bag a wicket on his IPL debut during a playoff.
Interestingly, Sunny also got out for a duck in his debut match but didn’t take any wickets. There was some backlash towards the Delhi captain back then for some choices he made.
On a personal note, Musheer is related to Indian star Sarfaraz Khan, making them one of the few sibling duos to play in the IPL. In the eliminator, Sri Lankan players Kusal Mendis and Charith Asalanka are also set to make their IPL debuts, but Musheer’s unique record will remain untouchable given their extensive experience in T20 cricket.