Raj Bawa

India’s cricket talent-producing factory is manufacturing premium goods at a steady rate for the last decade or so and one such product is Raj Bawa who has shown signs of becoming an outstanding fast-bowling all-rounder. Born on 12th November 2002 in Nahan in the mountainous state of Himachal Pradesh in northern India, Raj moved with his family to Chandigarh at an early age. He began playing cricket there and soon became a part of the Chandigarh U19 setup. He is a left-handed power-hitter who bowls right-arm medium fast and soon found himself in contention for India U-19.

He was in the India U19 side that took part in the 2021 ACC U19 Asia Cup and traveled to the West Indies as a part of the squad for the 2022 ICC U19 World Cup. He had an outstanding start to the tournament taking a 4-wicket haul against South Africa U19 and he destroyed Uganda U19 with a 108 ball 162 to show his prowess with the bat as well. The icing on the cake was his Player of the Match performance in the final against England U19 where he claimed five wickets and scored 35 runs to lead his side to the title.

Having returned from the World Cup after scoring 252 runs at an average of 63 and claiming 9 wickets, he made his first-class debut for the Chandigarh senior team against Hyderabad in the Ranji Trophy. He took 2 wickets in his first outing and scored 44 followed by an unbeaten 35 in the second inning. He was picked up for INR 2 crore by the Punjab franchise for the 2022 Indian T20 League and made his T20 debut against the Bangalore franchise but was dismissed on a golden duck. Later that year, he made his List A debut for India A against New Zealand A and was retained by his franchise for the 2023 Indian T20 League.