It was during a practice game between the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and the Gujarat Titans (MI) when Rohit Sharma asked a young Rushil Ugarkar, the 22-year-old, who came as the support bowler for the Mumbai Indians, to set the field for Virat Kohli from the television screen. The youngster felt that the veteran batter would perhaps get out at long leg, and guess what, two balls later, it happened exactly.

Later, Rohit Sharma broke down Phil Salt’s game plan to Rushil Ugarkar in a 15-minute session in detail, and that brought the cricketing brain of the right-arm pacer into the light. He was delivered by one of the best captains of the shortest format. Ugarkar warmed up well with a five-run penultimate over against the Washington Freedom before the start of the season.

See Also: [WATCH] Rushil Ugarkar defends 12 runs in final over to win MLC 2025 for MI New York

The method was excellent for the 22-year-old, who set a 6-3 field, which shows his belief in the plan and execution of it. He has the wish to bowl fast, but what stands out for any player in world cricket is how they keep their ego aside, as Ugarkar did against the LA Knight Riders when he went with the slower deliveries.

Who is Rushil Ugarkar? The 22-year-old winged under Rohit Sharma’s guidance

After being smashed for a boundary off the very first ball, Ugarkar had enough game plan for the Knight Riders’ contest. He pulled back the pace to 110s in the next 20 balls of the spell and kept nagging the off-cutters besides the variations to fox the powerful international batters like Sherfane Rutherford. During a game when Shimron Hetmyer smashed 97* in a chase of 238, the spring chicken ended with 1/29.

22 Year Old Rushil Ugarkar defended 12 runs in the Final over against Maxwell and Phillips. 🔥pic.twitter.com/RIGojIZJiB

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) July 14, 2025

Ugarkar, born in St. Louis in Missouri, has featured in only 10 MLC 2025 games this season and has no international experience as of now. He finished this edition with 11 wickets at an average of 24.45 and a strike rate of just under 18 with an economy rate of 8.49, thanks to the bowling figure of 3/19 in an innings.

He had a huge job of defending 12 runs in the final over of the season against Glenn Maxwell and Glenn Phillips. Any young bowler could easily get exposed against two veteran international campaigners, but that wasn’t the case with Rushil, who also dismissed the Australian batter and scripted a five-run victory for the New York side.  

It was such a strange edition of the Major League Cricket (MLC) where, despite winning just three games in the group stage of the tournament, the MI New York lifted the trophy of the 2025 season. The 22-year-old Rushil Ugarkar got the opportunity to write history for himself and the franchise against two incredible veteran international batters, Glenn Maxwell and Glenn Phillips. 

Coming into the last over of the MLC 2025 final, the pressure was incredible on the young fast bowler, who, however, had the guidance of the two experienced bowlers, Trent Boult in the field and Lasith Malinga from the coaching dugout. The first couple of balls leaked just two singles, which brought calmness to his procedure.

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The third delivery of the over saw the batter make a wild swing in the big leg side, but Maxwell missed as the ball rolled onto the wicket-keeper’s hands. On the fourth delivery of the over, the Australian batter couldn’t time the slower ball and found the deep mid-wicket fielder. The final ball of the over went for a boundary, but it didn’t matter to anyone as the MI New York scripted a five-run victory to lift the title.

[WATCH] Rushil Ugarkar bowls superb final over to win MLC 2025 for MI New York

New York came into the game with a four-match losing streak against the Washington Freedom, who won the toss and decided to bowl first. Quinton de Kock smashed a fine 77-run knock in 46 deliveries with the help of six boundaries and four sixes at a strike rate of nearly 170. However, none of the other batters could step up in the crisis period. 

22 Year Old Rushil Ugarkar defended 12 runs in the Final over against Maxwell and Phillips. 🔥pic.twitter.com/RIGojIZJiB

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) July 14, 2025

Later, it was Kunwarjeet Singh, who remained unbeaten on 22 runs in 13 balls, to shoulder the New York side to 180/7 in their allotted 20 overs. Lockie Ferguson finished with a fine spell of 3/21 in his four overs, thanks to an economy rate of 5.2.

Rachin Ravindra was the lone fighter in the chase among the top three with his 70 runs in 41 balls, thanks to a strike rate of 170.73. Jack Edwards drilled 33 runs in 22 balls at a strike rate of 150. The hope was on Phillips and Maxwell to pull the chase off, but they failed and fell short of the chase by five runs.

Another example of Rohit Sharma's brilliant cricket brain. With his guidance, Rushil Ugarkar, emerging pacer of MI New York, became one of the promising young stars of the ongoing MLC 2025. In a recently published article in Cricbuzz, a glimpse of Rohit Sharma's wisdom about cricket sparked. 

Rohit Sharma was watching the Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Gujarat Titans (RCB vs GT) match on screen with MI's support bowler Rushil Ugarkar. Virat Kohli was then on the pitch for RCB. Rohit then asked Ugarkar where he would like to bowl to take the wicket of Virat. The young pacer said, "I'd probably want him to drive and get him caught at slips"—the scenario is described in the article. 

Ugarkar has developed his cricketing skills a lot. In the ongoing MLC campaign, he not only changed his approach to bowling but also tried to think in a more improvised way. During a match against the LA Knight Riders, the 22-year-old tried variations in pace, which was something new in his bowling proposition. The wicket was sluggish, so he tried slower ones to keep the batters under pressure. 

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The rising of Rushil Ugarkar

Rushil, like many seamers, has an intention to attract more pace and offers express deliveries to batsmen. He worked hard to gain extra muscles and pace. His average speed rose from 127 kmph to 134 kmph at this year's MLC, which signifies his hard work. The fast bowler from St. Louis, Missouri, even managed to deliver over 140 cases. 

Ugarkar's evolving tactical views were manifested when he set a 6-3 field against Washington Freedom. The movement was enough to surprise his teammates and the cricket experts. The rise of the young pace bowler will not only help USA cricket but also set an example of how wisdom from an experienced man can change the views of a budding talent.