The Indian Premier League, the world’s largest T20 cricket spectacle, has continuously generated amazing home-grown talent over the last 16 seasons like a well-oiled machine. Year after year, unheralded players from unexpected areas have taken the league by storm with their remarkable performances and become household names.
Leaving aside the coalition of worldwide cricketing giants that has made the league what it is today, the IPL stage has found raw, unknown talents as it continues to be the largest platform of opportunity. The IPL has helped numerous young players get access to national teams over the years.
From Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, the Pandya brothers, to Arshdeep Singh and Umran Malik, the IPL has brought to the forefront young, gifted cricketers who have gone on to become great national possibilities.
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The ongoing 16th season of the league has been no exception, highlighting a number of promising young players. We’ll look at the top five interesting prospects who could be future Team India candidates.
Yashasvi Jaiswal (Rajasthan Royals)
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Rajasthan Royals opener Yashasvi Jaiswal has come a long way, from selling pani puri on Mumbai’s streets to sleeping on an empty stomach in tents at Azad Maidan to recently firing his maiden IPL ton.
Jaiswal, 21, from Uttar Pradesh, has lit up the IPL 2023 stage with his outstanding batting performance this season. With 428 runs in just nine games, the swashbuckling left-hander is the tournament’s second best run-scorer, trailing only RCB’s Faf du Plessis.
Jaiswal is having the best IPL season of his career, having already scored a century and three fifties. This season appears to be his best yet. Even before the current season of the IPL, Jaiswal was racking up runs in domestic cricket.
In his current form, a national call-up for Jaiswal appears to be a matter of time, at least in the shortest format, as he will be on the radar of selectors looking to revamp the Indian T20I side. Any team benefits from having a left-handed opening batsman.
Tilak Varma (Mumbai Indians)
Styled left-hander Tilak Varma, one of the most promising young players to have emerged in the Indian cricket system recently, has been in ominous form in this season’s IPL after showcasing his batting prowess last season during an underwhelming Mumbai Indians’ campaign.
The 20-year-old from Hyderabad has been a find for Mumbai and continues to thrive in the greatest T20 competition in the globe with 248 runs in 8 matches at a strike rate of over 152.
Tilak has been MI’s faltering batting order this year and has saved his team on numerous occasions by displaying exceptional maturity and hitting abilities.
The same age as Yashasvi, Tilak Varma is 20 years old. The national selectors will be keeping a careful eye on this young cricketer because he is also highly skilled.
Suyash Sharma (Kolkata Knight Riders)
Suyash Sharma, a leggie for Kolkata Knight Riders, was little unknown before the start of this season but has now emerged as the IPL’s most recent spark.
Suyash, a rookie this season, was thrown into the deep end despite having almost no experience in professional cricket, and the Knight Riders have benefited greatly from the decision.
Suyash has demonstrated that he belongs on the greatest stage in the world and perfectly fits the definition of a cricketing rockstar with his fashionable hairdo and some pretty smart bowling against the best batsmen in the world.
The 19-year-old has so far taken 9 wickets in 8 games and has undoubtedly generated buzz among cricket fans. Although the leggie’s career is still in its infancy, with time he can be developed into a promising bowling prospect.
Rinku Singh (Kolkata Knight Riders)
The Rinku Singh journey has been nothing less than a Cinderella tale, starting with him turning down a job to wash floors and ending with him becoming an IPL overnight phenomenon.
Since he pulled off a miraculous victory for his team Kolkata Knight Riders against Gujarat Titans, Rinku has become the talk of the town.
Rinku became well-known after he pulled off a heist by hitting five consecutive sixes in a row, which changed the course of his life.
The 25-year-old has been remarkably consistent with the bat this season, scoring 270 runs in just 9 games. He continues to dazzle both fans and critics.
Coming in lower on the pecking order, Rinku and his superior striking have given KKR a powerful weapon they can use well. In upcoming seasons, he can be developed and his abilities refined to make him a guaranteed match-winner. The national selectors will also be keeping an eye on him in case he gets called up in the future.
Mayank Markande (Sunrisers Hyderabad)
Mayank Markande’s entry in the IPL was originally hampered by a lack of opportunities at the Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals. However, it appears that the 25-year-old has finally settled in with his new franchise, Sunrisers Hyderabad, and could end up being one of the season’s biggest surprises.
The young leggie from Punjab has created a stir and has been one of the most successful bowlers in the league this season, with 10 wickets in 6 matches at a great economy of 6.41.
Mayank, who has previously played one T20 international for India, appears to have found a chord with his new club and is relishing his new role as the team’s top spinner.
Mayank has plagued some of the league’s greatest batters with a classic leg-break and a nasty googly and will want to improve his performances as the competition enters its business phase.
He is another outstanding youngster who the selectors would want to keep an eye on.
Also Read: Shubman Gill is a master in the art of reading spinners: Harbhajan Singh (cricfiles.com)
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