Who is Raghu Sharma? Mumbai Indians’ replacement of Vignesh Puthur for IPL 2025

Who is Raghu Sharma? Mumbai Indians’ replacement of Vignesh Puthur for IPL 2025
Who is Raghu Sharma? Mumbai Indians’ replacement of Vignesh Puthur for IPL 2025

New Delhi: Mumbai Indians (MI) have been hit with an injury blow as their left-arm wristspinner Vignesh Puthur has been ruled out of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, with the franchise announcing uncapped legspinner Raghu Sharma as his replacement. Puthur was revealed to have bone stress reactions in both of his shins, which led the team to sign Raghu, who has been a net bowler for them so far.

Puthur endured a memorable debut earlier in the ongoing season as he scalped three wickets against arch-rivals Chennai Super Kings (CSK). He played five games for MI overall, claiming six wickets at an economy rate of 9.08. “Vignesh will continue to be with the team to focus on his recovery and rehabilitation with the Mumbai Indians medical and S&C team,” the franchise released a statement.

Who is Raghu Sharma?

Born on March 11, 1993, in the Jalandhar district of Punjab, Raghu, a net bowler for MI, is all set to join the main squad at his base price of Rs. 30 lakh. Similar to Puthur, this will be his maiden stint in the cash-rich league. Talking about his statistics, Raghu has represented Punjab and Puducherry in domestic cricket over the years.

The 32-year-old right-arm leg-break bowler has featured in 11 first-class matches so far, taking 57 wickets at an average of 19.59, with best bowling figures of 7/56. His List A cricket stint currently carries a record of 14 wickets in 9 matches, best figures being 4/37, all during the 2024-25 Vijay Hazare Trophy for Punjab. He has also featured in 3 T20 matches, picking up 3 wickets.

Raghu turns out to be another pick (for IPL 2025) from the RAPP (Registered Available Player Pool) list, which contains players who registered for the auction but were not picked by any team. Being a part of MI as one of the support bowlers, he has successfully transitioned to the main squad.

Meanwhile, MI, which had a slow start to the tournament with only one win from the initial five games, went on to stack five wins on the trot and currently sit third on the points table with 12 points from ten games.

 Mumbai Indians revealed Vignesh Puthur to have had bone stress reactions in both shins which ruled him out of the IPL 2025. The franchise has roped in Raghu Sharma as his replacement. Who is he?  Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today