'Rocket Raheja' prepares for IPL and Ranji lift-off

He has been dominating bowlers, including Varun Chakravarthy and R Ashwin, with his explosive batting over the past two seasons of the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL). Apart from opening the batting, he can also keep wicket, which makes him an exciting package, especially in T20 cricket. He has also had a brief stint with Tamil Nadu's white-ball sides and emerged on the IPL's radar.

Meet Tushar Raheja, who has earned the sobriquet 'Rocket Raheja' in the TNPL circles. An aggressive left-hand batter, Raheja has a wide variety of shots in his repertoire. The 24-year-old has always been proficient against pace and in TNPL 2025 he levelled up, disrupting both Varun and Ashwin during Tiruppur Tamizhans' run to their maiden title. His franchise captain R Sai Kishore was so impressed with Raheja's takedown of spin that he came out publicly and said the wicketkeeper-batter was ready for the IPL.

Raheja had attended multiple trials before and during IPL 2025, including a mid-season one, but couldn't break into the big league. He's taken feedback and learnings from those trials and has strengthened his case for the upcoming auction with a chart-topping 488 runs in nine innings at an average of 61 and strike rate of 185.55, including 77 in the final against Ashwin's Dindigul Dragons.

"I thought I did well at the Delhi trials and then I was called again during the tournament as well," Raheja recalls, speaking to ESPNcricinfo. "That was again a good experience and that helped me evolve as well. I was amongst people who got picked in this year's IPL like Priyansh Arya. After the auction, I tried to compare myself to them in terms of seeing what they are doing right and what I'm not.

"Seeing them at trials, going back and seeing their videos and seeing them in the IPL - that gave me a lot of learning. Being amongst Hemang Badani, Rahul Dravid and other Indian cricketers gives you a lot of confidence, which I've tried to carry into this season."

Raheja has IPL ambitions, but he doesn't want to look too far ahead. "I would like to focus on the Syed Mushtaq Ali [tournament], which would take me a step closer," Raheja says. "I'm trying not to think about it but obviously, it's human tendency again to start thinking about it. I will be lying if I say I've not thought about it."

When he was younger, Raheja admits to being carried away by the "adrenaline rush" but now he's learnt to control his emotions and thoughts with help from Raymun Roy, a mental conditioning coach, who has also worked with India internationals Washington Sundar and B Sai Sudharsan.

"Roy has played a big role in this aspect, where basically you are controlling your heartbeat," Raheja says. "Like, when you are playing a match or when you are under pressure, what brings a lot of thoughts is your heartbeat and at the time, your mind will be running fast. So, I've tried to keep that in check and not have too many thoughts.

"We do a lot of quantum breathing exercises off the field and some of these are simple exercises that I can do while batting also. So, even when I'm batting in between balls, there are a lot of small exercises that I do, which help me not think, if that makes sense."

Raheja has also expanded his range, and he credits his personal coach TV Ramkumar for it. While the slog-sweep comes naturally to him, he had to spend more time on hitting straight during the off-season in the lead-up to the TNPL.

"What I have put in a lot of work into is hitting straight, hitting over covers and mainly hitting straight," Raheja says, "because if you are able to hit straight, the other things will come with your bat swing. But the hardest thing to do is hit a bowler, especially a spinner, straight. I'm looking to hit them straight on the ground, over long-off and long-on.

"I've been training with Mr. Ramkumar for three years now and I've understood my game because of him. I feel from last year, every time after the powerplay or even the year before that, after the powerplay, I was slowing down. So, I tried to put in a lot of thought into how I can keep that momentum going. Most of the time, it's spinners bowling to you after the powerplay. So, I did a lot of drills against spin, getting my bat swing a lot better against spin and trying to pick length a lot better."

When he was six years old, Raheja had enrolled himself into a tennis academy but switched to cricket after watching MS Dhoni lead India to T20 World Cup glory in 2007. Raheja idolises Dhoni and also has fond memories of watching Matthew Hayden bashing bowlers in the IPL at Chepauk. It may not be too long before Raheja himself breaks into the IPL.

"I was always a fan of Dhoni," Raheja says. "When Matthew Hayden used to play for CSK, I used to go to Chepauk to watch a lot of matches. So, I was fascinated by the way he took down fast bowlers. I was also fascinated by Yuvraj Singh but I've always idolised Dhoni mainly."

Raheja didn't start as an opener at Tiruppur but was promoted to the top after coach RX Murali (also the batting coach of RCB Women) saw a spark in him during a practice game. He has since transformed himself into an intent machine.

"I was batting in the middle order in the TNPL for a couple of seasons," Raheja says. "I used to ask him: 'Sir, give me a shot at opening'. He then gave me an opportunity and he really liked my attacking intent. He has worked with some of the top cricketers in the country. His inputs have been valuable, and it helps working with someone who has so much T20 experience."

While white-ball cricket is his calling card right now, Raheja doesn't want to be pigeon-holed as a white-ball specialist. He has dreams of representing Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy after playing eight white-ball games for them last season.

With Sai Sudharsan likely to be on India or India A duty during this season, Raheja has a chance to stake his claim for a red-ball slot in the upcoming Buchi Babu tournament, which will kick off on August 18 in Chennai. Raheja and TNCA XI will run into a Mumbai side featuring Ayush Mhatre, Sarfaraz Khan and Musheer Khan.

"I wish to do a lot better in the red-ball format than I'm [doing] right now," Raheja says. "I am working hard on my red-ball game as well. I don't want to be just branded as a white-ball only player. I know I have the game for the red-ball format as well.

"I have a lot more work to do, which I am working on in that format. But those ambitions are definitely there, and I want to break into the Ranji side as well. But that will come with more performances in the [first division] league and the Buchi Babu, which is coming up. I'm excited to express myself there."

A big domestic season could propel 'Rocket Raheja' into Tamil Nadu's batting core and the IPL.