Mumbai Indians leg-spinner Raghu Sharma picked up his first ever IPL wicket in his second game against Lucknow Super Giants. After dismissing the batter, Raghu Sharma pulled out a piece of paper which read: โRadhe Radhe. A very painful 15 years, by divine mercy of Gurudeva, ended today. Thanks, Mumbai Indians (Blue and Gold), for giving me this opportunity. Ever grateful. Jai Shri Ram.โ It was a beautiful moment which summed up his 15 years of struggle. He spoke about a lot of things after the game in the video released on the IPL website. Watch the video here
โ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐ณ๐๐น ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฑโ ๐ฅน ๐ฅ Do not miss this incredible story of an electrical engineer turned cricketer, who switched careers after India won the 2011 World Cup. From being 100+ kgs to bowling on beaches in Puri, the @mipaltanโฆ
โ IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 5, 2026
Raghu Sharma said that his family background everyone were doctors and engineers. He said, โI am talking about around 2011. Everyone in my family were doctors and engineers, so I became an engineer too โ an electrical engineer. But considering my background, I was not fit. I weighed around 102 kilograms.โ Raghu Sharma has also revealed that watching MS Dhoni hit the World Cup-winning six against Sri Lanka at the Wankhede Stadium in 2011 inspired him to pursue cricket seriously despite battling obesity and having doubts over his future in the sport.
While speaking about the struggles he faced early in his career, Raghu said, โEven my father told me that because of your obesity, you wonโt be able to do it. You will have to run a lot and work very hard. Cricket is not for you. I started at the age of 21, so all the cricket age-group opportunities were already over for me. But I was still determined and focused on my goal.โ he added
Raghu Sharma also spoke about his faith in God saying that โI had complete faith in God and believed that if God exists, then I would definitely make it. For six days a week, I practiced only leg-spin bowling. Even now, I bowl 10 overs every single day. If you are a bowler, you have to keep bowling continuously. Eventually, your wrist starts working naturally,โ Raghu said.
Mumbai Indians picked up leg-spinner Raghu Sharma ahead of IPL 2025 but did not get a game. He was retained by the team and finally got his chance against Chennai Super Kings in the previous match. Despite not picking up a wicket he was economical. He picked up his first wicket against LSG and it was an excellent moment for him.
