After struggling with their India pacers last season, Rajasthan Royals (RR) needed to revamp their fast-bowling department ahead of the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL 2026) season. In a bid to do so, the Royals acquired some unheard domestic names, based on scouting reports.
Of them, Bengal pacer Brijesh Sharma, who actually hails from Jammu & Kashmir is one name to watch out for. He was roped in for his base price of INR 30 lakhs.
Brijesh was one of the top picks of the RR scouts and he was discussed in their pre-auction closed-door strategy meeting as a strong target for a future investment to bolster the pace battery.
The son of a labourer, Brijesh had it difficult right from the beginning but he maintained his perseverance to climb up the ladder. The situation went further downhill when he was dropped from the Jammu & Kashmir state team before finding his way and represent Bengal.
The young speedster had said after landing his maiden IPL contract, “I am currently representing the Bengal Cricket Association. I am from Madha and currently staying in Udhampur. My journey has had its ups and downs. I have played for the Jammu state team, was dropped, and learnt a great deal under Deepak Punia’s guidance at Unique Sports Club in Delhi over the last two years. The facilities are great there, and they made me aware of the discipline and things I needed to bring to play cricket at a higher level.”
Following his move to Bengal and subsequent gig in the Bengal Pro T20 League, Brijesh managed to turn heads and attract the attention of the scouts with some stellar display.
Brijesh Sharma impressed during the Bengal Pro T20 League 2025 last year with his fast bowling prowess. Although he was not the leading wicket-taker and finished sixth on the list with 11 wickets in seven games, it was his pace and clinical bowling that the Royals felt set him apart.
A genunie threat will the ball in the powerplay as well as death overs, Brijesh Sharma maintained a tidy economy rate of 7.74 – quite impressive for a fast bowler bowling in the stages when batters are attacking the most.
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Rajasthan Royals have Tushar Deshpande and Sandeep Sharma as their frontline Indian pacers with new recruits Brijesh Sharma, Kuldeep Sen and Sushant Mishra providing further options. Add to that, they have overseas pacers in Jofra Archer, Adam Milne, Kwena Maphaka and Nandre Burger.
While it’s an extremely tight pace attack with multiple names to rotate from, there is still an outside chance albeit less that Brijesh Sharma can get a few games. This is because both Sandeep and Tushar had a lacklustre last season which might prompt the Royals to try out different combinations.
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