Who is Raj Angad Bawa, Rohit Sharma’s replacement in IPL 2025, he was bought by MI for…

Mumbai Indians’ player Rohit Sharma missed out on the IPL match against Lucknow Super Giants on Friday. Rohit got hit on the knee in the nets and was thus unavailable for the game. In his absence, Raj Angad Bawa was called in by skipper Hardik Pandya. But who is he? Bawa is a fast-bowling all-rounder who came into the limelight after taking a five-wicket haul against England and leading India to winning the 2022 U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup final. In the tournament, Bawa scored 252 runs at an average of 63 in just five innings, including a whirlwind knock of 162* against Uganda, while picking 9 wickets.

Born in Nahan (Himachal Pradesh), he grew up in Chandigarh. Raj is an emerging Indian cricketer known for his all-round abilities. He bats left-handed and bowls right-arm medium-fast. The 22-year-old plays for Chandigarh in domestic cricket. His father, Sukhwinder Bawa, is a leading cricket coach in Chandigarh and gave Raj his first cricketing lessons. Raj is the grandson of Trilochan Singh, who won the gold medal for the Indian hockey team in the 1948 London Olympics. 

IPL debut

Raj made his IPL debut in 2022 with the Punjab Kings. He represented the franchise in two games that season. In 2023, he failed to get any match and was released before the 2024 auction. Raj was picked up by the Mumbai Indians (MI) in the IPL 2025 mega-auction for Rs 30 Lakh. On April 4, Raj got into the XI of Mumbai Indians but didn’t get any time to showcase his skills as his team suffered a 12-run defeat from Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). Raj is a middle-order batter who can play aggressive knocks in the middle phase.

Raj made his first-class cricket debut for Chandigarh in February 2022 in the 2021-22 Ranji Trophy against Hyderabad. He took a wicket with his first delivery. Bawa played 11 First-Class and List-A games each in his young career and also played 20 T20 matches. He scored one First-Class hundred and took two four-wicket hauls in List-A cricket.

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