Raghu Sharma for Mumbai Indians - (Source: ScreenGrab)
On Saturday, May 2, Chennai Super Kings hosted Mumbai Indians at the Chepauk Stadium for the 2nd El Classico of IPL 2026. Both teams are fresh off a defeat and in the do-or-die fixture, Mumbai Indians made a big change and handed debut to 33-year-old Raghu Sharma.
Before the start of the match, the Mumbai Indians' camp handed the cap to Raghu Sharma, who has been named in the impact sub and will play a part in the 2nd innings.
Who Is Raghu Sharma, 33-year-old making Debut for Mumbai Indians?
Firstly, Raghu Sharma was bought by Mumbai Indians for 30 lakhs in IPL 2025 and had no opportunities till the ongoing match. Talking about his journey, he is from Jalandhar, Punjab.
Notably, Raghu was not serious about cricket till the age of 18 as he comes from a family of engineers and doctors, resulting in him focusing on his studies. However, he later shifted full focus on the sport and was a net bowler for Mumbai Indians in 2025.
In the same season, MI were impressed the leg-spinner and signed him to their main squad for the rest of the season. Notably, he has a very impressive journey as he played domestic cricket for Punjab and then went to Sri Lanka for a short stint with Galle, before returning to IPL and making his debut for Mumbai Indians.
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Road To Fitness And Shane Warne's Influence
Notably, Raghu Sharma had fitness issues when he started cricket. The 33-year-old weighed 102 kilos and was rejected by his coaches. Therefore, he worked on his fitness and shed 35 kilos to regain fitness.
"I weighed around 102kg. If you see my old photos on Facebook, two-three Raghus of today can fit into that Raghu. And since I had not played any cricket until then, the coaches' response was not very encouraging. But I was determined," remarked
"I realised I needed to lose weight. I would go to the ground in the afternoon, in 45-46°C heat. No one else would be there, but I would keep running and running. After that, I would bowl non-stop for two hours. Within six months, I lost 30-35kg," he added while speaking to ESPN Cricinfo.
Further, Raghu Sharma started his journey as a fast bowler, but an injury forced him to rethink his options. Therefore, Raghu Sharma got influenced from Shane Warne and learnt the art of spin. The pivot helped him get into the Punjab domestic team.
Move To Puducherry, Sri Lanka For More Opportunities
Raghu Sharma made it to the Punjab team. He played a few games but soon saw himself out of the scheme of things. Therefore, Raghu moved to Puducherry for more opportunities. In 2020-21. Even there, he didn't get many chances. Raghu calls this his "struggling period", but he had something in his life to stay afloat.
Further, in 2022, he got an opportunity with Galle Cricket Club in Sri Lanka's premier first-class tournament. There, Raghu rose to fame and took 46 wickets at 15.71 in six games, including five wickets in an innings five times and three ten-wicket match hauls.
After the Sri Lanka gig, Raghu moved back to Punjab, where he caught the attention of Wasim Jaffer, Harbhajan Singh, who referred his name to MI as a net bowler. Therefore, from there on, Raghu became a part of the five-time winners.
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