PV Satyanarayana Raju is making his IPL debut for the Mumbai Indians against the Chennai Super Kings in Match 3 of the 2025 IPL, at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chepauk, Chennai.
Five-times champions MI included Andhra right-arm fast bowler PV Satyanarayana Raju in their starting XI against five-time champions CSK, a clash often affectionately referred to as the El Classico of the IPL.
Having picked Ryan Rickelton, Will Jacks, Mitchell Santner, and Trent Boult, MI could not pick another overseas cricketer. Despite missing Jasprit Bumrah (injured) and captain Hardik Pandya (suspended for a match), they did have quite a few Indian bowlers in their squad.
Also read: IPL 2025: Mumbai Indians announce Hardik Pandya's replacement as captain for first game
Apart from the slow bowlers (who are usually preferred at Chepauk), veteran leg-spinner Karn Sharma and the uncapped Kerala left-arm spinner Vignesh Puthur, they had two left-arm seamers in Arjun Tendulkar and Ashwani Kumar at their disposal. But the team management backed Raju ahead of all of them.
Match 3, Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians
vs
- Ball by ball Over
IPL 2025: Who is S Raju?
Born in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, Raju had made his first-class debut in the 2023/24 Ranji Trophy, where he picked up 1-203 across two games. He did better in 2024/25, snaring 16 scalps at 30.18 apiece. In the latter season, he also debuted in the two limited-overs formats, with unremarkable returns.
His nine wickets in the Vijay Hazare Trophy came at 27.22 apiece as he went for 5.30 an over, while he picked up seven wickets at 26.85 from seven games in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy while maintaining an economy of 8.23.
However, it is in the Andhra Premier League that he really made a mark. From three games for the Godavari Titans in the 2023 edition, he had five wickets at 17.80 (but for an economy of 8.90). Then, for the Rayalaseema Kings at the 2024 edition, he had eight wickets at 20 – but while going at only 6.15. He was the only one in the league to bowl 25 overs while maintaining an economy of 6.50 or lower.
Ahead of the 2025 IPL auction, Raju trialled for both the Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians. MI eventually got him at the auction at the base price of INR 30 lakh.
