Mumbai Indians rookie Raghu Sharma marked a memorable first step in IPL cricket on Monday, celebrating his maiden wicket in a style that quickly went viral. After getting his debut opportunity for the franchise in the IPL 2026 clash against Lucknow Super Giants, he struck in his very first match outing by dismissing fellow debutant Akshat Raghuwanshi—and then revealed a handwritten note to the crowd during his celebrations.
Raghu’s debut and the moment he got his first IPL wicket
- Raghu Sharma made his IPL debut for Mumbai Indians in the match versus Lucknow Super Giants.
- During the Lucknow innings, Raghu took a catch off his own bowling to remove fellow debutant Akshat Raghuwanshi.
- The breakthrough came in the 13th over of the LSG innings.
- As he celebrated his maiden IPL wicket, he pulled out a note from his pocket and held it up towards the stands.
- The note read: “Radhe 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”.
Raghu finished the game with his IPL bowling figures from his spell of 4 overs, recording his first-ever wicket at this level in the process.
Match build-up: Mumbai Indians choose to field
In the contest itself, Mumbai Indians won the toss and elected to put Lucknow Super Giants in to bat first.
Playing XIs
- Lucknow Super Giants (Playing XI): Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Rishabh Pant (w/c), Josh Inglis, Nicholas Pooran, Akshat Raghuwanshi, Himmat Singh, Mohammed Shami, Mohsin Khan, Avesh Khan, Prince Yadav.
- Mumbai Indians (Playing XI): Ryan Rickelton (w), Naman Dhir, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Will Jacks, Raj Bawa, Corbin Bosch, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, AM Ghazanfar, Raghu Sharma.
