Who is Raghu Sharma? 5 interesting facts about new Mumbai Indians player signed as Vignesh Puthur's replacement in IPL 2025 

Raghu Sharma has joined the Mumbai Indians (MI) team as a replacement for Vignesh Puthur in the ongoing IPL 2025 tournament. Puthur, who made an impressive debut against the Chennai Super Kings in March, had bone stress reactions in both his shins, which forced MI to replace him with Raghu.

It is pertinent to note that Raghu Sharma had been with the Mumbai Indians as a net bowler since the start of IPL 2025. The uncapped spinner has shared multiple photos in the MI training kit before the franchise officially signed him as a replacement this season.

Before Raghu wows fans with his cricketing skills, here's a look at five things to know about the newest player in the Mumbai Indians team.

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#1 Raghu Sharma is a right-arm leg-spin bowler

While Vignesh Puthur bowled left-arm leg-spin, his replacement Raghu Sharma is a right-arm leg-spin bowler. Mumbai Indians already have an experienced right-arm leg-spinner in their squad, Karn Sharma.

Since Karn has so much experience, he can help uncapped player Raghu become a better bowler. It will be interesting to see if Raghu gets a game for MI this season.

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#2 Raghu Sharma has played domestic cricket in Sri Lanka

The majority of the Indian uncapped players only play in domestic tournaments in India, but Raghu has overseas experience. He turned up for Sri Lanka's Galle Cricket Club in a domestic tournament.

Even in his Instagram bio, Raghu has mentioned that he is a spin-bowling specialist along with flags of USA, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and Georgia. Judging by his Instagram bio, it seems like Raghu has played cricket across different parts of the world.

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#3 Raghu Sharma has played only 3 T20 matches

While IPL teams prefer to have experienced T20 players in their squad, Raghu only has the experience of playing three T20 matches. He has bowled 11 overs in T20 cricket, scalping three wickets.

The uncapped player has more experience of playing in the longer formats. He has bagged 57 wickets in 11 first-class matches, whereas in the List-A format, he has accounted for 14 wickets in nine outings.

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#4 Raghu Sharma made his first-class debut in 2017

IPL 2025 marks the first time Raghu has earned a contract in the league, but he has been playing first-class cricket since 2017. He made his debut for Punjab in a Ranji Trophy match against Vidarbha on October 14, 2017.

2011 World Cup hero Yuvraj Singh was the captain of the Punjab team in that game. That Punjab team also featured capped Abhishek Sharma, Manpreet Gony, Manan Vohra, Sandeep Sharma, and Barinder Sran. Debutant Raghu took one wicket, which was of Lalit Yadav.

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#5 Raghu made his T20 debut at Wankhede Stadium

The iconic Wankhede Stadium is the home of the Mumbai Indians team in the IPL. It is also the venue, where Raghu started his T20 career for Puducherry in a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021 match against Kerala.

Raghu bowled three overs in that game, returning with figures of 0/29. It will be interesting to see if the leg-spinner makes his IPL debut at the same stadium, where he made his T20 debut.