Kwena Maphaka walked into the IPL at seventeen, a schoolboy fast bowler with an Under-19 World Cup Player of the Tournament award in his kit bag and genuine pace in his left arm. Mumbai Indians signed him as an injury replacement for Dilshan Madushanka in 2024, making him one of the youngest players the league had ever seen, and Rajasthan Royals paid INR 1.50 crore for him at the 2025 mega auction. Four IPL matches later, his Kwena Maphaka IPL stats remain a work in progress: 2 wickets at an average of 71.50, with best figures of 1 for 23. This page covers his full IPL record: teams, season-by-season stats, auction history, and his IPL 2027 status.
Outside the IPL, Maphaka’s rise has been genuinely remarkable: the youngest South African to play men’s international cricket, the youngest from his country to debut in Tests, and a 4 for 20 against Australia that made him the youngest bowler from a full-member nation to take four wickets in a T20I. The IPL has given him only scraps of opportunity so far, two games each for MI and RR, but Rajasthan’s decision to retain him through 2026 shows how highly the franchise rates his future.
Kwena Maphaka IPL Stats Overview
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Kwena Tshegofatso Maphaka |
| IPL Debut | 2024 (Mumbai Indians) |
| Role | Bowler |
| Batting Style | Left-handed |
| Bowling Style | Left-arm fast |
| Current IPL Team | Rajasthan Royals (2025–2026) |
| IPL Matches | 4 |
| IPL Runs | 8 |
| Highest Score | 8* (vs PBKS, 2025) |
| IPL Wickets | 2 |
| Best Bowling | 1/23 (vs RR, 2024) |
| IPL 2027 Team | Not officially confirmed |
| IPL 2027 Price | Not officially confirmed |
Who Is Kwena Maphaka?
Kwena Tshegofatso Maphaka was born on 8 April 2006 in Johannesburg, South Africa. A left-arm fast bowler, he first came to wider attention at the 2024 ICC Under-19 World Cup, where his 21 wickets earned him the Player of the Tournament award and set a record for the most wickets in a single edition of the tournament. He was still completing school at St Stithians College in Johannesburg when international cricket came calling.
Maphaka made his T20I debut for South Africa against West Indies on 23 August 2024, becoming the youngest South African to play men’s international cricket at 18 years and 137 days. He followed that with an ODI debut against Pakistan in December 2024 and a Test debut against Pakistan on 3 January 2025, which made him the youngest South African Test debutant. His best international figures so far are 4 for 20 against Australia in August 2025, which made him the youngest bowler from a full-member nation to take four wickets in a T20I. Domestically he represents the Lions in South Africa.
Kwena Maphaka IPL Teams
| Season | Team | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Mumbai Indians | Replacement signing (for Dilshan Madushanka) |
| 2025 | Rajasthan Royals | Bought at mega auction (INR 1.50 crore) |
| 2026 | Rajasthan Royals | Retained (INR 1.50 crore) |
| 2027 | — | Not officially confirmed |
Maphaka’s IPL journey started by accident more than design: Mumbai Indians needed a replacement for the injured Dilshan Madushanka in 2024 and turned to a seventeen-year-old who had just torn through the Under-19 World Cup. His two games for MI were a harsh education, but they were enough to convince Rajasthan Royals to spend INR 1.50 crore on him at the 2025 mega auction, outbidding Royal Challengers Bengaluru. RR then retained him for 2026 at the same price, keeping faith in a long-term pace project even though senior quicks like Jofra Archer and Nandre Burger have kept him out of the XI.
Kwena Maphaka IPL 2024 Stats
| Mat | Overs | Runs | Wkts | BBI | Avg | Econ | SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 6.0 | 89 | 1 | 1/23 | 89.00 | 14.83 | 36.00 |
Thrown in against Sunrisers Hyderabad on debut, Maphaka learned quickly how unforgiving the IPL can be for a teenage quick: 89 runs from six overs across his two outings, with a single wicket to show for it. His best spell came against Rajasthan Royals, 1 for 23, which hinted at the control he would later show. The economy rate of 14.83 tells the real story of a seventeen-year-old asked to bowl at the death in Indian conditions, but MI clearly saw enough raw material to take the experiment as worthwhile.
Kwena Maphaka IPL 2025 Stats
| Mat | Overs | Runs | Wkts | BBI | Avg | Econ | SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 5.0 | 54 | 1 | 1/32 | 54.00 | 10.80 | 30.00 |
In Rajasthan pink, Maphaka’s numbers moved in the right direction even though the sample stayed tiny. Two matches brought one wicket for 54 runs, with his best figures of 1 for 32 coming against Punjab Kings, and his economy rate dropped from 14.83 to 10.80. He also showed a flash with the bat in that PBKS game, striking an unbeaten 8 from two balls with two boundaries. RR used him as a tactical pace option rather than a regular starter, but the improvement in control was exactly what the franchise would have wanted to see from a nineteen-year-old.
Kwena Maphaka IPL 2026 Stats
| Mat | Overs | Runs | Wkts | BBI | Avg | Econ | SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retained by Rajasthan Royals (INR 1.50 crore); no verified appearances in available match records | |||||||
Rajasthan Royals retained Maphaka for IPL 2026 at INR 1.50 crore, keeping him in a pace group that included Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger and Sandeep Sharma. Available match records show no verified appearances for him in the 2026 season, so his confirmed IPL record stands at the four matches from 2024 and 2025: 2 wickets at 71.50 with an economy of 13.00. The retention itself is the meaningful signal — RR chose to keep developing a twenty-year-old left-arm quick rather than send him back to the auction.
Kwena Maphaka IPL 2027 Stats
IPL 2027 statistics are not available yet because the season has not started. No matches have been played, so there are no 2027 numbers to report.
Kwena Maphaka IPL 2027 Team and Price
As of 19 October 2026, Kwena Maphaka’s IPL 2027 team and price are not officially confirmed. He was last with Rajasthan Royals, retained for 2026 at INR 1.50 crore, and his 2027 status will depend on the franchise’s upcoming retention decisions and the player auction. RR’s pace attack is built around senior quicks like Jofra Archer and Nandre Burger, with Sandeep Sharma and Tushar Deshpande providing Indian seam options, so Maphaka’s path back into the squad runs through the same left-arm pace depth chart that has limited his games so far. Under the league’s IPL 2027 retention rules, his rights currently sit with RR until the retention deadline passes. This page will be updated when an official announcement is made; the IPL 2027 auction will decide his fate if he is released.
Kwena Maphaka IPL Career Batting Stats
| Season | Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Avg | SR | 4s | 6s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 2 | — | — | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 8* | — | 400.00 | 2 | 0 |
| 2026 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Career | 4 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 8* | — | 400.00 | 2 | 0 |
Kwena Maphaka IPL Career Bowling Stats
| Season | Team | Mat | Balls | Runs | Wkts | BBI | Avg | Econ | SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | MI | 2 | 36 | 89 | 1 | 1/23 | 89.00 | 14.83 | 36.00 |
| 2025 | RR | 2 | 30 | 54 | 1 | 1/32 | 54.00 | 10.80 | 30.00 |
| 2026 | RR | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Career | — | 4 | 66 | 143 | 2 | 1/23 | 71.50 | 13.00 | 33.00 |
Kwena Maphaka IPL Stats by Year
| Season | Team | Mat | Inns | Runs | HS | Avg | SR | 50s | 100s | Wkts | Econ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | MI | 2 | — | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 1 | 14.83 |
| 2025 | RR | 2 | 1 | 8 | 8* | — | 400.00 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10.80 |
| 2026 | RR | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2027 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Kwena Maphaka IPL Highest Score
Maphaka’s highest IPL score is 8 not out, made for Rajasthan Royals against Punjab Kings in 2025. Walking in late, he faced two balls and struck two boundaries to finish with a strike rate of 400.00. It remains his only IPL innings, which says everything about his role: he is in the side, when he gets in, to bowl.
Kwena Maphaka IPL Wickets and Best Bowling
Maphaka has 2 wickets from his 4 IPL matches. His best bowling figures are 1 for 23, recorded for Mumbai Indians against Rajasthan Royals in 2024, and he added 1 for 32 against Punjab Kings for RR in 2025. He has no four- or five-wicket hauls in the IPL. With a career strike rate of 33.00 balls per wicket and an economy of 13.00, the raw IPL numbers are modest — but they come from just eleven overs spread across two seasons, bowled while he was still a teenager.
Kwena Maphaka IPL Auction Price History
| Season | Team | Price | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Mumbai Indians | Reported INR 50 lakh | Replacement signing (for Dilshan Madushanka) |
| 2025 | Rajasthan Royals | INR 1.50 crore | Auction buy (base price INR 75 lakh) |
| 2026 | Rajasthan Royals | INR 1.50 crore | Retained |
| 2027 | — | Not officially confirmed | Awaiting the IPL 2027 auction |
Kwena Maphaka IPL Records and Achievements
- IPL debut at seventeen for Mumbai Indians in 2024, among the youngest players in the league’s history and the youngest in the 2024 season at 17 years and 349 days.
- Player of the Tournament at the 2024 ICC Under-19 World Cup with 21 wickets, a record for the most wickets in a single edition, and the first bowler to take three five-wicket hauls in Under-19 World Cup history.
- Youngest South African to play men’s international cricket (T20I debut vs West Indies, August 2024, aged 18 years 137 days).
- Youngest South African Test debutant (vs Pakistan, January 2025).
- Youngest bowler from a full-member nation to take four wickets in a T20I (4/20 vs Australia, August 2025).
Kwena Maphaka’s IPL Performance Analysis
There is almost nothing to analyse in eleven IPL overs, and that is the point. Maphaka’s league career so far is a story of franchises buying potential rather than production: MI took a flier on a seventeen-year-old replacement, and RR paid 1.50 crore for the same promise a year later. The one trend worth noting is the economy rate falling from 14.83 in 2024 to 10.80 in 2025, which suggests his control is catching up with his pace as he matures.
The structural problem is opportunity. RR’s pace attack has been led by Jofra Archer and Nandre Burger, with Sandeep Sharma and Tushar Deshpande filling Indian seam slots, leaving a young overseas quick with almost no route into the XI. That is why the 2026 retention matters more than any number on this page: RR chose to keep developing him rather than cut him loose. Left-arm pace with genuine speed is a rare commodity, and his international record — 4 for 20 against Australia, a Test cap at eighteen — shows the ceiling is real. Whether the IPL ever sees it depends on game time, which at twenty years old he still has plenty of runway to earn.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Kwena Maphaka’s IPL 2027 team?
Not officially confirmed. As of 19 October 2026, he was last with Rajasthan Royals (retained for 2026 at INR 1.50 crore). His 2027 team will be decided at the upcoming retention deadline and auction.
How many wickets does Kwena Maphaka have in the IPL?
2 wickets in 4 matches, at an average of 71.50 and an economy rate of 13.00, with best figures of 1 for 23.
Which teams has Kwena Maphaka played for in the IPL?
Mumbai Indians in 2024 (as an injury replacement) and Rajasthan Royals in 2025 and 2026.
What was Kwena Maphaka’s IPL auction price?
Rajasthan Royals bought him for INR 1.50 crore at the 2025 mega auction (from a base price of INR 75 lakh) and retained him for 2026 at the same price.
When did Kwena Maphaka make his IPL debut?
In 2024 for Mumbai Indians against Sunrisers Hyderabad, aged seventeen — one of the youngest debutants in IPL history.
What is Kwena Maphaka’s best bowling in the IPL?
1 for 23 for Mumbai Indians against Rajasthan Royals in 2024.
What is Kwena Maphaka’s bowling style?
Left-arm fast. He bats left-handed and his primary role is as a bowler.
Sources and Data Notes
Statistics and player information are checked against the official Rajasthan Royals player profile, ESPNcricinfo, and established sports press coverage of the IPL auctions and retention announcements. Statistics and player information are checked against available reliable sources and may be updated as new IPL matches, transfers, or official announcements are confirmed.
Statistics updated through: 19 October 2026.
