Rahul Sharma

International career

Rahul Sharma was born on 30 November 1986. He is a former Indian cricketer. He bowled leg spin with his right hand, using legbreaks and googlies. Rahul played for the Punjab cricket team from 2006 to 2014. He became well known after his good bowling in the 2011 Indian Premier League (IPL) for Pune Warriors India.

Rahul played for India in four One Day Internationals (ODIs) and two Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is). In ODIs, he took six wickets. In T20Is, he took three wickets. This showed his skill as a leg-spinner at the international level.

Even though Rahul faced injuries during his career, he worked hard to recover and improve. After his injury, he found it difficult to get chances to play at the state level. But he never stopped trying.

During his career, Rahul shared the dressing room with many famous Indian cricketers. Some of them were Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag, MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli. Rahul looked up to Sachin Tendulkar, calling him his idol and inspiration.

Rahul announced his retirement from all types of cricket on his Twitter account. He spoke about his journey with mixed feelings. He thanked everyone who supported him and said he believed in hard work and destiny. He stayed true to cricket, even when things were hard.

2011

• On December 8, Rahul Sharma played his first One Day International (ODI) for India against West Indies at Indore.
• In this match, he took three wickets by bowling out three batsmen.
• In the same game, Virender Sehwag scored 219 runs, which set a new record for the highest score in ODIs.

2012

• On February 1, Rahul played his first Twenty20 International (T20I) for India against Australia at Sydney, also called ANZ Stadium.
• He hurt his finger while bowling the first over but returned later to continue bowling.
• His first T20I wicket was David Hussey, who was bowled out.
• On February 3, Rahul played his last T20I against Australia at Melbourne.
• On February 5, Rahul scored his first and only run in ODIs during a match against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. He scored 1 run from 2 balls before being bowled by Xavier Doherty.
• On July 28, Rahul played his last ODI for India against Sri Lanka at Colombo (RPS).

Leagues Participation

Rahul Sharma played in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for several teams. He started with Deccan Chargers in 2010. From 2011 to 2013, he played for Pune Warriors India. In 2014, he joined Delhi Daredevils.

Indian Premier League

Rahul Sharma began his IPL career in 2010 with Deccan Chargers. He played six matches and took five wickets. His bowling cost 8.08 runs per over. From 2011 to 2013, he played for Pune Warriors India. In 2011, his bowling was very economical, especially in a match against Mumbai Indians. In 2013, Chris Gayle hit five sixes in one over off Rahul’s bowling. Gayle scored 175 runs not out, which was the highest individual IPL score at that time. Rahul moved to Delhi Daredevils in 2014. In 2015, Chennai Super Kings bought Rahul in the auction, but he did not play any matches that year.

Year	Team	Notes
2010	Deccan Chargers	Played six matches, took five wickets, economy rate 8.08.
2011–13	Pune Warriors India	Bowled economically in 2011; hit for five sixes by Gayle.
2014	Delhi Daredevils	Played for the team with no special highlights.
2015	Chennai Super Kings	Bought but did not play any matches.

Domestic career

Rahul Sharma started his domestic cricket career as a medium pace bowler. His coach suggested he try leg spin, so he changed. He played his first first-class match for Punjab against Rajasthan from December 25 to 28, 2006. After that, he did not play again until 2009. In the 2009–10 Ranji Trophy season, Rahul took 13 wickets in seven first-class matches. In the 2010–11 season, he played only one Ranji match.

Rahul played his first List A match for Punjab against Haryana on February 10, 2010. His last List A match came on September 15, 2013, when India A played West Indies A in Bengaluru. Rahul made his T20 debut on October 20, 2009, for Punjab against Haryana. His last T20 match was for Delhi Daredevils in the IPL on May 3, 2014.

Other Leagues

In September 2022, Rahul Sharma joined the Bhilwara Kings team for the 2022 Legends League Cricket.

Records and achievements

Rahul Sharma showed strong skill as a bowler during his cricket career. He bowled legbreaks and googlies well. His performance in the 2011 IPL helped him get noticed and proved his value in cricket.  Rahul had a tough challenge with Bell's Palsy, which caused facial paralysis. Even so, he stayed determined and worked hard to face the difficulties.

Here are some of Rahul Sharma’s records and achievements by year:

• 2010: Played first IPL games for Deccan Chargers.
• 2011: Played for Pune Warriors India in the IPL. In one match against Mumbai Indians, he bowled very economically with figures of 4-0-7-2.
• December 8, 2011: Played his first One Day International (ODI) for India against West Indies and took three wickets.
• September 2022: Joined Bhilwara Kings team for the 2022 Legends League Cricket.

Personal life

Rahul Sharma lives a calm life outside cricket. He grew up in a family that taught him discipline and hard work. His story has some challenges and success that made many fans notice him.

Family

Rahul’s father, Pradeep Sharma, worked as an assistant sub-inspector in Punjab Police. Rahul learned strong values from his family. There is no public information about his wife or children.

Finance

By March 2025, Rahul Sharma’s total wealth is about $1.26 million.

Scandals

Before the 2010 IPL started, Rahul had Bell’s Palsy, a disease that caused partial paralysis of his face. He also faced a problem after testing positive for drugs at a party. Rahul said he did not know it was a rave party and was there to attend a birthday.

Fans

Rahul became well known in 2011 after good bowling performances for Pune Warriors in the IPL. His Instagram page has about 55,000 followers.