IPL 2025: Who is Raghu Sharma? Player signed by Mumbai Indians as replacement for Vignesh Puthur

Mumbai Indians (MI) were dealt a massive blow ahead of their IPL 2025 game against Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Thursday night. Vignesh Puthur has been ruled out of the tournament after suffering an injury. The left-arm wrist spinner will continue to be part of Mumbai Indians’ squad in a bid to work on his fitness. With four games left to play, MI have signed 32-year-old Raghu Sharma as the replacement. 

IPL put out an official statement regarding the move made by Mumbai Indians on Thursday. Raghu has been signed by MI for INR 30 Lakhs which has been his base price. Vignesh Puthur announced himself when he picked three wickets on his IPL debut against Chennai Super Kings. 

The 24-year-old last played for MI in the game against Sunrisers Hyderabad and bowled just one over. In the five matches that Puthur played this season for MI, he has picked wickets with a best of 3/32 which came against CSK. In the subsequent few games, Vignesh Puthur struggled for form eventually losing his place to Karn Sharma. 

Who is Raghu Sharma? MI’s newest member 

Raghu Sharma has playing domestic cricket since his first-class debut for Punjab in 2017. Born on the 11th of March 1993, Raghu is a right-arm leg spinner who seemingly impressed Mumbai Indians’ staff. The 32-year-old was acting as a net bowler for MI before his eventual addition to the squad. 

The 32-year-old has played just three T20 games where he has picked three wickets with an economy of eight runs per over. Raghu has also played 11 First-Class and nine List A matches and taken 57 and 14 wickets respectively. While it is unlikely that Raghu gets to make his IPL debut on Thursday, the bowler is going to get his first taste of mainstream IPL action after years of hard work. 

Mumbai Indians, are on the cusp of achieving a remarkable feat ahead of their game against RR on Thursday night. If Hardik Pandya and his men are able to win their sixth successive game of the season with a decent margin they will head to top of the table. At the start of the season MI had won just once in their initial five games. The next five matches has seen the Men in Blue and Gold pocket ten points.