Raghu Sharma (Image credit: BCCI/IPL) NEW DELHI: It was a survival night for Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium in IPL 2026 against Lucknow Super Giants. And with Rohit Sharma’s vintage show and MI’s batting extraordinaire this season Ryan Rickelton in tow, MI swept aside LSG to keep their IPL playoff chances alive even as they hang in the balance.But the highlight of the night wasn’t necessarily Rohit’s roaring return from injury, or even Nicholas Pooran’s blistering half-century after a long lean patch.
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“We didn’t play good cricket” – Mahela Jayawardene after MI’s biggest IPL loss vs CSKIt was an emotional gesture by Raghu Sharma. Simple reverse capture. First IPL wicket. And then – a piece of paper.Sharma, playing only his second IPL match, dismissed LSG debutant Akshat Raghuwanshi for 11. But the celebration, as is often the case with many wicket celebrations, was not instinctive aggression. Instead, it was intentional and deeply personal.After the wicket, Sharma picked up a note – recalling Dinesh Ramdin’s ‘Talk na Viv’ message and closer to home, a similar celebration of Abhishek Sharma’s IPL hundred last season. The cameras zoomed in and even stand-in captain Suryakumar Yadav struggled, almost quizzically, to read the note.The moment instantly went viral.But nothing on the note was immediate. It encapsulates Sharma’s journey to this point – 15 years in the making.The message read: “Radhe Radhe. Today ended by God’s grace Gurudeva a very painful 15 years. Thank you Mumbai Indians (Blue and Gold) for giving me this opportunity. I am ever grateful. Jai Shri Ram.”15 years of grinding for one goalSharma was drafted into the MI squad last season as an injury replacement for youngster Vignes Puthur and has remained this season. After spending the opening few matches on the bench, MI handed Sharma his debut against Chennai Super Kings a few days back where he returned figures of 0/24.Looking back on Sharma’s journey to his IPL moment, it was far from conventional. He didn’t grow up in elite systems. In fact, he didn’t take up serious cricket until he turned 18.Starting out as a fast bowler, Raghu had to reinvent himself and switched to leg-spinner after a hamstring injury – mostly self-taught.“I started moving by watching his videos… I watched it again and again and tried it on the nets,” Raghu recalled, crediting Shane Warne as his virtual mentor in an interview with ESPNcricinfo before the start of the season.But for someone who started serious cricket so late, it was always going to be tough to break through.“At 25, I was told I was too old,” Raghu told ESPNCricinfo in the same interview.His career then took him across geographies and he seized a second chance. He was dropped after a promising start for Punjab on the domestic circuit and even his move to Puducherry failed to bring consistent opportunities. He also had a full season of cricket in Sri Lanka followed by a club cricket stint in England where he rubbed shoulders with the likes of Imran Tahir. The veteran helped Sharma reshape his bowling, adding variation and control.After failing the fitness tests and dropping out of the selection fray, Raghu hits an emotional rock bottom. He briefly stepped down, mentally reset and physically rebuilt. A strong home showing brought him back into the system. Mumbai Indians, the same franchise where he once failed the trials, gave him another chance.“I had to wait for eight years but I came back to the same franchise… this time I came as a transformed person,” he told ESPNcricinfo.And during the journey, Raghu found solace in faith. “I feel God sees everything. If you do your work with discipline, you will definitely get rewarded… I have enjoyed my failures as well,” he told ESPNcricinfo in the same interview.And that explains why his note started with ‘Radhe Radhe’ and ended with ‘Jai Shri Ram.’On paper, Sharma’s numbers read: 1 for 36 in four overs. Respectable at best.But in context, it was the end of a 15-year wait.
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What impressed you the most about Raghu Sharma’s IPL moment?
For all the emotion surrounding this first IPL wicket, Raghu Sharma’s career numbers represent a steady progression. In first-class cricket, he took 57 wickets in 12 matches at an average of 22.03 and an economy of 3.27, including five five-wicket hauls and three 10-wicket matches.In List A cricket, he has 18 wickets from 12 matches at an average of 27.50 and an economy of 5.22. In T20s, he took 5 wickets in 6 matches, at an average of 34.40 and an economy rate of 7.81.
