Raj Angad Bawa made his debut for the Mumbai Indians during their IPL 2025 Eliminator match against the Gujarat Titans on Friday. The 22-year-old all-rounder got a spot in MI’s playing 11 as the team missed the services of mainstay Deepak Chahar for the knockout game. The other two debutants for Mumbai are Jonny Bairstow and Richard Gleeson.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya won the toss and chose to bat against Shubman Gill’s Gujarat Titans. “Looks like a different track from yesterday. A bit less grass. Big game, scoring runs, and defending would be nice. We all are aware, for the last 9 games, we have been playing it like a knockout. Really need to turn up today and focus on the things which we can control. We’ve got three changes: Jonny comes back, Gleeson makes his debut and Raj Angad Bawa plays,” Pandya said at the toss.
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One name in the playing 11 that surprised fans was that of Raj Bawa. So, who is he?
Who is Raj Angad Bawa?
Raj Angad Bawa, a left-handed batsman and right-arm medium-fast bowler, made his IPL debut for the Punjab Kings in 2022.
Born in November 2022 in Nahan, Himachal Pradesh, Bawa is the grandson of Trilochan Singh Bawa, a member of India’s gold-medal-winning hockey team at the 1948 London Olympics. His father, Sukhwinder Bawa, is a renowned cricket coach who mentored Yuvraj Singh and runs a cricket academy.
Raj Bawa switched to left-handed batting to emulate his idol, Yuvraj Singh. He wears jersey number 12, a nod to Yuvraj’s birthday (December 12) and his grandfather’s (February 12).
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The 22-year-old played for Chandigarh’s under-19 team and represented India in the 2021 ACC Under-19 Asia Cup and the 2022 ICC Under-19 World Cup.
During the 2022 U-19 World Cup in the West Indies, Bawa played a pivotal role in India’s title win, scoring 252 runs at an average of 63 and taking nine wickets, including a five-wicket haul (5/31) in the final against England, earning him Player of the Match.
Bawa made his Ranji Trophy debut for Chandigarh against Hyderabad on February 17, 2022, taking a wicket with his first delivery. He was bought by Punjab Kings (PBKS) for INR 2 crore in the 2022 IPL auction. He made his debut against RCB but played only two matches that season. He was signed by the Mumbai Indians (MI) for INR 30 lakh for IPL 2025.
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