Sri Lankan wicketkeeper-batter Kusal Mendis made his IPL debut for the Gujarat Titans in eliminator on Friday, May 30 in Mullanpur against the Mumbai Indians. Mendis replaced Jos Buttler after being signed as the veteran wicketkeeper-batter's replacement just for the playoffs, however, the 30-year-old had a day to forget on his IPL debut. Mendis dropped a couple of catches, one each of Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav and got hit wicket after scoring a breezy 20 with the bat. However, Mendis did become part of a rare list after making his IPL debut straight in the playoffs.
Just the previous day, all-rounder Musheer Khan made his IPL debut for the Punjab Kings after the table-toppers of the ongoing IPL season found themselves six down in just the ninth over after being put in to bat first by the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the first qualifier. 13 years ago, off-spinner Sunny Gupta had controversially replaced Morne Morkel in the then Delhi Daredevils' line-up and was clattered around for 47 runs in his three overs in the 2012 edition.
Players to make their IPL debut in playoffs
Sunny Gupta - 2012 (DD)
Musheer Khan - 2025 (PBKS)
Kusal Mendis - 2015 (GT)
Mendis was the third player to make his debut in the IPL playoffs, and became the first overseas to do so. Jonny Bairstow and Richard Gleeson were also playing their first games of the season for the Mumbai Indians in the eliminator replacing Ryan Rickelton and Will Jacks, however, both have featured in the cash-rich league before.
While Bairstow got off to a flier, scoring a 22-ball 47, Gleeson picked up the crucial wicket of Sai Sudharsan, who was making a match out of a tough chase of 229 runs with a 49-ball 80. Mumbai Indians prevailed by 20 runs and will now take on the Punjab Kings in the second qualifier while the Titans, who stayed at the top of the table for most of the season, finished in third place following a couple of losses in the last two league games and were now out of the tournament after just one loss in the eliminator.