Tushar Deshpande bustles through the crease and bowls a heavy ball well. After a couple of brilliant years for the Chennai Super Kings in seasons 2023 and 2024 with consistent domestic outputs for Mumbai, the seamer was in and around the Indian side in white-ball squads. However, last year in October, Tushar Deshpande sustained an ankle injury, which took its toll on his body as he had to go through surgery and missed the Ranji season last year.
Mumbai fast bowler Tushar Deshpande is keen to make up for lost time after missing the entire 2024-25 domestic season with a major ankle injury. After undergoing surgery for it last October, Tushar Deshpande was hoping to return to action for the Ranji Trophy knockouts in February 2025, but his rehab needed more time. The 30-year-old eventually made his comeback in IPL 2025 for Rajasthan Royals (RR) and then proved his red-ball fitness for India A against England Lions in Northampton in June.
Tushar Deshpande did return for the Indian Premier League season in 2025 for the Rajasthan Royals, but has had a mixed season with them. But the pacer is hopeful to make a strong comeback for the Duleep Trophy and also aspires to play for India in red-ball cricket. Tushar Deshpande recalls bowling to MS Dhoni in IPL, overcomes ankle surgery, and eyes a Test debut for India while focusing on fitness and consistent performances for Mumbai.
Tushar Deshpande opens up on his dream to play for India in Test and also recall his memory bowling to MS Dhoni ahead of IPL 2026
India pacer Tushar Deshpande, who is currently playing still remembers the butterflies in his stomach when he was asked to bowl to MS Dhoni in an IPL clash between Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings. With Dhoni and Shivam Dube at the crease, the Mumbai pacer knew he was up against two of the best finishers in the league—and his former teammates.
Handed the ball for the penultimate over on a flat Delhi track, Tushar Deshpande held his nerve. He gave away just six runs, keeping both batters quiet. Three of those deliveries were to Dhoni, a man he had never bowled to in an official game before.
“[Got] a lot of confidence from that over. It’s always pressure bowling to Mahi bhai because he’s the best finisher in the world. I was kind of trying to impress him and just wanted to bowl my best ball to him. Before last season, I had never bowled to him in an official game,” Tushar Deshpande told ESPNcricinfo.
The 29-year-old pacer Tushar Deshpande finished IPL 2025 with nine wickets in 10 matches, but his road back wasn’t easy. A serious ankle injury forced him out of the entire 2024-25 domestic season. The surgery in October last year kept him away from the game longer than expected, even though he desperately wanted to return during Mumbai’s knockout fixtures.
Meanwhile, the right-arm paceman had an underwhelming IPL season with 9 wickets in 10 matches. Deshpande reflected on the challenges of being a bowler in the IPL, stressing that the tournament’s high-pressure nature and the introduction of the Impact Player rule make it unfair to judge a bowler by just one performance.
“The IPL is a high-pressure environment and the way after the Impact Player where the game is going, you cannot judge a bowler by a single game or the runs he gives or the wickets he picks. I always bowled in the powerplay and the death. Those are the tough situations of the game,” Deshpande added.
Talking further about his season at Rajasthan Royals and how he tried to be level-headed after enjoying success at CSK
“And some or the other game will go my way or the batsman’s way. So it was very important for me to be level-headed because earlier for CSK [Chennai Super Kings] I was the highest wicket-taker [17 in IPL 2024]. A year before that also I was the highest wicket-taker for CSK [21 in IPL 2023]. Bowlers can’t be a lot harder on themselves because even good balls are going for runs,” he added.
Once he was fit, Tushar Deshpande tested himself in Chennai’s sweltering heat, bowling 18 overs in a Buchi Babu match against Haryana.
“I have put in a lot of effort, actually. It was a major ankle surgery and that being my landing foot, it was necessary that I get operated at that moment of time because coming ahead are a lot of international tours as well. I’m aiming for that, and I’m feeling good now for the start of the season,” he said.
Despite the setbacks, Tushar Deshpande’s long-term goal hasn’t changed—he still dreams of playing Test cricket for India. For now, though, he is focused on staying fit and delivering consistently for Mumbai.
“The aspiration is always to play Test cricket for India, but I’m taking one match at a time, one day at a point, and just following a good process and keeping myself fit because I’ve lost considerable time off the game last year. So just keeping myself fit so I can again hit the hard yards for Mumbai,” he added.
While bowling is his main forte, he is no mug with the bat either. Tushar Deshpande has scored his maiden Ranji ton last year batting at number eleven
“Fast bowling was the second thing which I later picked up in my career when I was at Under-13. So, I feel batting comes naturally to me, but my dad always told me that if you bat with patience you’ll be a good batter,” Deshpande said.
He just told me ‘don’t throw your wicket away and let the bowler earn your wicket’.
“During my hundred, Tanush [Kotian] trusted me and rotated the strike – so credit goes to him as well. I had scored 70-odd runs (62 from No. 7) against MP (Madhya Pradesh) back in 2016 in my debut season.”
In July 2024, Tushar Deshpande made his international debut in T20Is and held the trophy aloft after his team had won the series in Harare. Injury then set him back, but fit and firing again, Tushar Deshpande is ready to put himself back in the national reckoning. With an India A series coming up against Australia A at home from September, Tushar Deshpande hopes to perform well in the Duleep Trophy and stay in the mix for the two unofficial Tests in Lucknow.
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