Romario Shepherd, the dynamic all-rounder for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), recently shared his inspiring journey from playing cricket in Guyana to shining in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He reminisced about his childhood days when he and his friends would carve wooden pieces into makeshift balls and use coconut branches as bats. ‘I played in a small patch of my yard. Sometimes, we used wood for the ball or crafted bats from coconut branches. When the ball hit your shin, there were no pads to protect you since we played barefoot, so you had to guard your feet,’ he recalled fondly.
Now celebrated for his powerful sixes, Shepherd started his career focused on precision over power. ‘In my first match, I scored 129 runs and batted through the 40 overs without hitting a single six. Back then, I wasn’t a big hitter; my focus was on finding the gaps,’ the 31-year-old shared.
He also expressed his admiration for former West Indies star Dwayne Bravo. ‘Whenever I listened to the radio, Dwayne Bravo was the name you always heard—batting, bowling, and fielding. I aspired to be just like him,’ Shepherd said.
His rise in white-ball cricket took off in 2018 during the Caribbean Premier League, where his talent began to catch the eye. ‘2018 was the year people started recognizing my potential in white-ball cricket. I began mastering yorkers and hitting the ball, and commentators like Ian Bishop began to take notice,’ he explained.
Shepherd recalled a pivotal moment when he hit a six off Dwayne Bravo, his childhood icon. ‘The first ball I faced from Dwayne Bravo went for a massive six into the stands. That was a significant moment for me because he was someone I looked up to,’ he said.
As of IPL 2026, RCB, under the leadership of Rajat Patidar, is currently ranked third on the points table, having clinched victories in all their matches, boasting a net run rate (NRR) of +2.501 and four points.
The RCB squad is set to face off against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) on April 10 at the Assam Cricket Association Stadium in Guwahati.