He last played a professional T20 match in 2021.
Mumbai Indians (MI) have brought in Punjab leg-spinner Raghu Sharma as a replacement for Kerala’s Vignesh Puthur, who has been ruled out of the rest of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 due to injury.
Raghu Sharma, a 32-year-old leg-spinner from Jalandhar, has quietly made his mark in domestic cricket over the years. He began his first-class career with Punjab in 2017, showing promise with the red ball. In 2021, he made his debut in white-ball cricket while playing for Puducherry, featuring in both List A and T20 formats for the first time.
Currently back with Punjab, Raghu continues to be a useful spin option. So far in his domestic career, he has played 11 first-class matches and picked up 57 wickets. In List A cricket, he has taken 13 wickets from nine matches, and in T20s, he has claimed three wickets in three appearances.
Raghu was one of the top performers for Punjab in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25. He was their second-highest wicket-taker after Arshdeep Singh, picking up 14 wickets in eight matches. His best figures were 4 for 37, which came against Puducherry.
He also took two three-wicket hauls during the tournament. Out of the eight matches he played, he went wicketless only twice and managed to take at least one wicket in every other game. His economy rate was also commendable at just 5.13.
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Raghu Sharma last played a professional T20 match on November 8, 2021, for Puducherry against Maharashtra in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. He bowled four overs and took two wickets for 34 runs in that game. Since then, he has not played in any official T20 matches.
However, in August 2024, he played a local T20 match for Villianur Mohit Kings in the Pondicherry Premier League. He bowled three overs and took one wicket for 35 runs.
Mumbai Indians are known for their smart scouting. This season, they picked uncapped players like Vignesh Puthur and Ashwani Kumar, and both have done fairly well. Before being named as a replacement, Raghu Sharma was already part of MI’s support bowling unit, so it is possible he could also get a chance.
However, with the tournament in its final stage, teams usually stick with their best eleven. Yet, it would not be a surprise if MI give Raghu his debut, especially since players like Puthur, Ashwani Kumar, and Venkata Satyanarayana Penmetsa have already played in IPL 2025.
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