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The ongoing edition of IPL, in these tough times, came as a sigh of relief for millions of cricket fans.
Despite some noteworthy performances by established Indian and overseas players; for me, the highlight of the season so far has been the performances by uncapped Indian players. This generation of cricketers is fearless, and they have owned the stage like they always belonged here.
This IPL season has been challenging for some teams in terms of the unavailability of few key players, because of the pandemic, and has disturbed the team compositions and they are still trying to find their best eleven. Though this has come as an opportunity for some youngsters who have got more chances than usual IPL campaign and some of them have been remarkable in grabbing the opportunities with both hands.
Devdutt Padikkal
The rookie southpaw has set the stage on fire with amazing stroke play and implausible calmness. He is carrying the purple patch from domestic cricket after being the top run-getter for Karnataka in all three formats prior to this year’s IPL. I have been following him since last season of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy where he was in sensational form. His knock of 122* there made him a sure shot contender for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) playing eleven and now there is no turning back.
In his debut season of IPL, he has been very impressive and has scored 3 fifties so far and it’s never easy to make your presence count in a team full of batting heavyweights in Virat, AB, and Finch. The young elegant southpaw has a long way to go and have a bright future.
Surya Kumar Yadav (SKY)
For SKY literally, Sky is the limit. He has impressed most with his consistent run for years now. Arguably the most consistent uncapped batsman in the domestic & IPL circuit. Tougher the playing conditions or tougher the situation for Mumbai Indians (MI), he is there to steady the ship and delight for eyes with superb technique. He has all the shots in his book and he is very close to AB’s 360-degree style of game. The highlight of his knock against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Abu Dhabi was his innovative yet controlled strokes behind square.
It would be almost impossible for him to not get selected & play in an Indian jersey sooner.
Rahul Tewatia
Rahul Tewatia has consistently been punching above his weight this season and has shown amazing temperament by making his team cross the finish line twice with the bat when the win was improbable and once with the bowl in hand, taking 3 wickets against Chennai Super Kings (CSK), that too in Sharjah; which was a graveyard for bowlers in the initial 4 matches.
Luckily for Rahul Tewatia, he is back with Rajasthan Royals (RR), where he started his IPL career and this is team best suited for his style of game and because of being not too rich in terms of resources & bench strength. He a getting regular games this season unlike his campaign with Delhi Capitals (DC) last season.
Amongst these batting & all-round performances, most heartening has been the emergence of ‘pace bowling prodigies’ in the country obsessed by batting and batting superstars. Huge credit to Rahul Dravid for acknowledging their talent and grooming these youngsters at U-19 and India A level.
Kartik Tyagi
A tall, right-arm fast bowler with high arm action, almost a replica of his idol Brett Lee in the run-up and bowling action. He can consistently bowl fast around 140kph and can move the ball too at this speed.
I am in awe of his bowling since U-19 world cup days in 2019 and who can forget his testing spell and best performance against Australia in the U-19 world cup match.
In the IPL it’s more than fascinating to see him bowl hard lengths & bouncers at will against the best batsmen of the world. His aggression seems to be key and makes him a genuine wicket-taker.
Arshdeep Singh:
A lanky left-arm quick who has the ability to bowl consistently fast with a disciplined line and length. Arshdeep Singh’s quick and disciplined bowling abilities have impressed almost everyone in the U19 world cup in 2018. He was part of the U19 world cup winning team in 2018 as a genuine quick bowler.
His performance against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in his debut IPL season last year was remarkable scalping Jos Buttler and Ajinkya Rahane and this year he is even more improved and looked dangerous in bowling at the death against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). He bowled 15 dots in his 4 overs, which is second-best in an inning this season, and took the wicket of dangerous Andre Russel. In a game against SRH too he bowled beautifully and his figures of 2 for 33 don’t tell you the complete story. It’s tough being part of the bowling unit which is struggling but this young quick has impressed time & again with his skill & execution.
T Natarajan:
The bowler who has impressed the most this season is Natarajan. This left-arm quick bowler showed us a glimpse of great Wasim Akram at times and his ability to nail Yorkers at will makes him such a special talent. In a game against Delhi Capitals (DC) he demonstrated his precision in bowling Yorkers and performed beautifully. After Bhuvneshwar’s injury, he is the most dependable pace bowler in his team to bowl at crucial stages of the game.
During the journey from a tennis ball cricketer to becoming the most dependable bowler of his Ranji Team and TNPL side; he has seen all in terms of injuries and bowling action issues. He is a true rag to riches story. Natarajan’s family wasn’t financially well-off. While his father worked as a porter at a railway station and his mother used to run a road-side snack stall.
Shivam Mavi & Kamlesh Nagarkoti
Shivam Mavi & Kamlesh Nagarkoti were part of the U-19 team as bowling all-rounders and their stint in Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) team mostly affected by injuries in previous seasons. Hats off to KKR for persisting with them in those times and they both are now playing for KKR this season and making their presence count with raw pace in a franchise that usually rely more on pace attack than spin.
Ravi Bishnoi
The only specialist spinner in my list is Ravi Bishnoi, a brave young leggie from Kings XI Punjab (KXIP). He has been outstanding in a bowling lineup which hasn’t fired enough and the reason KXIP is at the bottom of the table after half of the matches in the league stage. The pacers upfront haven’t been able to take wickets in powerplays and the young leggie has got the breakthrough for his team more often.
His match-winning spell of 3 for 32 against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) was phenomenal. Like Chahal and Rashid Khan, he is not afraid to pitch the ball up and makes him a genuine wicket-taker in white-ball cricket.
