The IPL caravan is well and truly on engulfing the entire cricketing fraternity in its fever and all the teams have already played their first round of matches. An interesting trend has emerged in the 5 matches that have been played so far in terms of the big performers and performances with both the bat and the ball in the matches played. Debutants shining bright All the 5 matches played so far have seen a player making ttheir debut for a franchise running away with the player-of-the-match award. While these players have played in the IPL before as well, all of them have played for different franchises in the previous editiosns and they have begun with a bang on their debuts for their new teams. Let's have a look - 1. Krunal Pandya (3/29 in 4 overs for RCB vs KKR) For his impressive and game changing spell of 3โฃ/2โฃ9โฃ, Krunal Pandya bagged the Player of the Match award that helped #RCB register a 7โฃ-wicket victory ๐๐Scorecard โถ https://t.co/C9xIFpQDTn#TATAIPL | #KKRvRCB | @RCBTweets | @krunalpandya24 pic.twitter.com/NqbiTqasNT — IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 22, 2025 In the very first match of the tournament, Krunal Pandya made his debut for RCB and he was straightaway given the task of leading the spin attack for the Bengaluru franchise. Having played previously for MI and LSG, Krunal seemed to shine in his new role as he bowled a lovely spell of left-arm spin registering figures of 3/29 with the wickets of Rahane, Venkatesh and Rinku. Due to Krunal's spell, RCB restricted KKR to 174 and chased down the target with ease and he won the player of the match award for his fantastic spell. 2. Ishan Kishan (106* off 47 for SRH vs RR) A special knock to highlight a special victory ๐For his match-winning knock of 106*(47), #SRH's Ishan Kishan was adjudged the Player of the Match in Match2๏ธโฃ ๐ชScorecard โถ https://t.co/ltVZAvInEG#TATAIPL | #SRHvRR | @SunRisers | @ishankishan51 pic.twitter.com/2lIE5qbvso — IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 23, 2025 Joining the go-getters at SRH in Match 2 was the man with a point to prove, Ishan Kishan, and prove he did as he outshone all the firecrackers in the SRH lineup and nothced up the maiden century of the IPL 2025. His knock of 106 off just 47 balls included 11 fours and 6 maximums as SRH bulldozed their way to the second-highest total of the IPL history, 286/5, just one run short of their own record of 287. Also Read | Ishan Kishan is the first centurion of IPL 2025, gets his maiden century in just 45 balls SRH comfortably won the match by 44 runs even though RR managed to go some themseleves and got to 242 but the climb was too steep and SRH began their campaign with a win for which Ishan Kishan was awarded the player-of-the-match. 3. Noor Ahmad (4/18 in 4 overs for CSK vs MI) Spin to Win ๐ธ๐Noor Ahmad is the Player of the Match for his excellent spell of 4/18 on his #CSK debut ๐Scorecard โถ https://t.co/QlMj4G7kV0#TATAIPL | #CSKvMI | @ChennaiIPL pic.twitter.com/gA4fQ6arVT — IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 23, 2025 Up next was the El Classico of IPL where the yellow of CSK took on the blue of MI at Chepauk in Match 3. There was already a lethal spin duo of Jadeja and Ashwin in the CSK ranks with the latter's homescoming hogging the headlines but the 20-year old Noor Ahmad from Afghanistan produced the goods. Having only played for GT previously in the IPL, Noor spun a wen around the MI batters on his CSK debut and grabbed 4 wickets included the one of Indian T20 skipper Suryakmar Yadav and star-batter Tilak Varma. CSK restricted MI to a pretty chasable total of 155 and then later on went on to chase the target with 5 balls to go with a special innings from Rachin Ravindra notching up their first win. 4. Ashutosh Sharma (66* off 31 for DC vs LSG) Fearless โ Courageous โ For his ๐๐ค๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐ game-changing knock, Ashutosh Sharma bags the Player of the Match award ๐๐Scorecard โถ https://t.co/aHUCFODDQL#TATAIPL | #DCvLSG | @DelhiCapitals pic.twitter.com/jHCwFUCvP5 — IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 24, 2025 The first thriller of IPL 2025 and perhaps the most entertaining match of the ones so far was Match 4 between DC and LSG in VIzag where DC snatched victory from the jaws of defeat and stunned LSG with a 1-wicket victory. Despite captain Pant's duck, LSG did brilliantly to get to 209/8 in 20 overs on the back of 70s from Mitchell Marsh and Nicholas Pooran but they were pegged back towards the end saving at least 20-30 runs in the death overs. Also Read | [Watch] 6-ball duck for Rishabh Pant against ex-franchise DC, fails to get off the mark for LSG who bought him for โน27 cr Those runs saved in the death came to DC's rescue as they were in a whole heap of bother in the 210-run chase slipping to 65/5 at one stage but that is when Ashutosh Sharma entered and made the match his own. Playing for DC for the first time, Ashutosh had showed his mettle in runchases for PBKS in the previous season but this was something else from the man from Railways. He took his time initially and was 20* off 20 at one stage but then displayed some jaw-dropping hitting shepherding the tail while doing so and eventually sealed it with a six with number 11 at the other end and 3 balls to spare taking home the player of the match award. 5. Shreyas Iyer (97* off 42 for PBKS vs GT) ๐๐๐๐ฉ'๐จ ๐๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐ก๐๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ค๐ข ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ค๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐ซกA perfect start as #PBKS skipper for Shreyas Iyer to guide his team to a splendid win! โค๏ธScorecard โถ https://t.co/PYWUriwSzY#TATAIPL | #GTvPBKS | @PunjabKingsIPL | @ShreyasIyer15 pic.twitter.com/LdjeEOOAfb — IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 25, 2025 The second-most expensive player in IPL history, Shreyas Iyer has been handed over the reigns at a new franchise Punjab Kings having led KKR to the title in the previous year and also DC to the playoffs a couple of times previously. Iyer's first gig as a captain was truly one to remember as he led from the front in the team's first match against GT in Ahmedabad which was Match 5 of IPL 2025. Iyer laid down the marker with an astonishing 42-ball unbeaten 97* which included 9 mammoth sixes as PBKS got to a gigantic total of 243/5 with their skipper returning undefeated on 97. Captain selfless ๐๐ป pic.twitter.com/KS4ExDh30O — CricketGully (@thecricketgully) March 25, 2025 PBKS went on to win the match by 11 runs courtesy some brilliant death bowling and opened their account in their first match and the skipper won the player of the match trophy. Will we see the same trend continue or will Match 6 between RR and KKR see a chnage and a player who was played for the team previously take the award?