As the 15th edition of the Indian Premier League nears its conclusion, we look at five of the tournament’s most eye-catching revelations, the young uncapped Indian stars who took the competition by a storm and made a name for themselves.
Unknown entities at the start of the season, these players are now famous amongst the fans, with an influential role played in their teams’ respective Premier League campaigns.
Historically, IPL teams have had their talent depth calculated on the basis of their high-prized bids and well-established names from the cricketing world. But it’s these young Indian hopefuls who make any IPL team a robust juggernaut, capable of outlasting their oppositions even deep into the competition.
Enlisted below then are five of IPL 2022’s most noteworthy revelations, who are likely to stand the test of time and potentially become great players for their teams in the seasons to follow.
1. Mohsin Khan
At no stage with his bowling did Lucknow Super Giants left-arm pacer Khan feel the heat and the pressure of undergoing his maiden IPL season. Easily the most in-control uncapped Indian quick at this year’s edition of the tournament, Khan retained wood over batters consistently.
Hailing from Uttar Pradesh, the 23-year-old fast-bowler was incredibly effective with his use of the left-arm angle and the ability to extract spongy bounce and movement off the deck.
Khan, LSG’s unlikely four-over bank in IPL 2022, bagged 14 wickets from his nine matches with an excellent economy rate of 5.96. Even in LSG’s painful defeat in the Eliminator, the speedster ended with figures of 1/25 in a high-scoring thriller. The highlight of his season was his economy rate. The left-arm seamer finished with the best economy rate in the season among fast bowlers to bowl at least 100 balls.
2. Rajat Patidar
Up next is Royal Challengers Bangalore top-order aggressor Patidar, who scored an outstanding hundred in his team’s victory in the Eliminator, becoming the first uncapped Indian to produce a century in the IPL playoffs.
The 28-year-old was in scintillating touch on the night and blasted the LSG attack to all corners of the picturesque Eden Gardens in Kolkata. He made an unbeaten 112 off 54 balls, including 12 fours and seven sixes, to almost singlehandedly take RCB to a gigantic score of 207/4.
Maybe not to this magnitude, but the knock in the Eliminator was not the first time in IPL 2022 that Patidar kept Bangalore in line for a big score or allowed them to maintain a healthy scoring rate. He has collected his 275 runs from six innings of the tournament at a strike-rate of 156.25.
Patidar also finished with the best strike-rate against spin by anyone in the season, standing out at No.3 for the side, a role that was fulfilled by Virat Kohli until recently.
3. Mukesh Choudhary
In what turned out to be a season of doom and gloom for defending champions Chennai Super Kings, the MS Dhoni-led franchise were left head-scratching to find their rare positives. Those almost never arrived for the ninth-placed holders until left-arm quick Choudhary found his feet and stitched a few notable performances together.
Playing his maiden IPL season, the 25-year-old Maharashtra speedster was expensive from time to time – which was reflected in his tournament economy rate of 9.31 – but his 16 wickets from 13 games also signalled a bowler with whom CSK can plan their future seasons. Mukesh also took the joint-most wickets in the powerplay in IPL 2022 – 11.
He made nice use of the new ball and swung it both ways with the left-arm angle, making him an enticing powerplay bowling option alongside India pacer Deepak Chahar.
4. Jitesh Sharma
When Punjab Kings decided to relieve Jonny Bairstow of keeping duties and put their bets entirely on the understated figure of Jitesh, many felt the Vidarbha cricketer would crumble under the pressure of expectations from his franchise.
As it panned out, however, Sharma proved to be PBKS’ biggest positive from a season where they suffered yet another league stage exit.
Asked to play the aggressor’s role on the batting front while also donning the keeping gloves in the field, the 28-year-old smashed his way to 234 runs at a strike-rate of 163.63. His tally included multiple critical cameos that allowed PBKS to take the game to the opposition and keep their campaign going.
The strike-rate recorded was the best by an uncapped batter in the season and overall the fifth-best among batters to bat at least 100 balls.
5. Tilak Varma
Last but certainly not the least is Tilak, another player who overcame his team’s travesty and proved to be their biggest shining light. Playing for wooden spooners Mumbai Indians, he emerged as his team’s dependable warrior from a disastrous campaign where the team won just four of their 14 league stage encounters.
Unperturbed by his team’s season of turmoil, Varma enchased his opportunities wonderfully, scoring 397 runs at a very healthy average of 36.09 with a strike-rate of 131.02.
Even as MI struggled to extract solid, consistent performances from their middle-order, the 19-year-old Hyderabad left-hander stood up tall and batted superbly against various oppositions.
A product of India’s robust junior cricket system and MI’s year-long active scouting team, Varma scored two impressive half-centuries in IPL 2022 and will be hoping to replicate his feat or go even better in the seasons to follow.
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