He played a big role in helping MI New York clinch the MLC 2025 title.
Young pacer Rushil Ugarkar did the star turn for Mumbai Indians New York (MI New York) on Sunday as he helped his side beat Washington Freedom in the Major League Cricket (MLC) 2025 final to clinch their second title.
Experienced New Zealand pacer Trent Boult had conceded 12 runs in the 19th over of Washington Freedom’s chase of 181 runs. Rushil Ugarkar was asked to bowl the final over with a big task at hand, and that was to defend another 12 runs. The youngster did so with great determination, giving away just six runs while also taking the wicket of Glenn Maxwell (15) on the fourth ball of that over. MI New York thus clinched the title with a five-run win over Washington Freedom.
Rushil Ugarkar, an American, was born in Missouri on June 30, 2003. He, however, began his professional cricketing career by attending sessions at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru.
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Once he returned to the United States after spending a few years in India, he had a stint with the Minor League Cricket team Silicon Valley Strikers in 2021. He failed to make much of an impact with the Silicon Valley team, but a couple of years later, he switched to the Dallas Mustangs before making another switch to the East Bay Blazers. He had a terrific season with the Dallas Mustangs in 2023, helping them win the Minor League Cricket title while taking 17 wickets.
Ugarkar soon started getting noticed and was a rookie pick for MI New York for the 2024 Major League Cricket season. He got to play just two games for MI New York in 2024 and failed to take a wicket. However, he put up a much improved performance in the 2025 season. He returned with 11 wickets from eight matches at an economy rate of 8.98.
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Rushil Ugarkar was picked up by Mumbai Indians as one of their net bowlers during Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. During a recent interview with Cricbuzz, Ugarkar revealed an insightful conversation with veteran batter Rohit Sharma during IPL 2025. The two of them were watching the IPL game between Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Gujarat Titans (GT).
“Look at the field, where would you bowl to Virat?” Rohit Sharma asked Rushil Ugarkar.
“I’d probably want him to drive and get him caught at slips,” replied the youngster.
Rohit, however, predicted that Virat Kohli would get caught at long leg. That’s exactly what happened a couple of deliveries later as Arshad Khan removed him.
Rushil Ugarkar is yet to make his debut for the senior USA cricket team. But one thing is for sure. He has a lot of potential to become the next big star in world cricket.
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