“Yatra Pratibha Avsara Prapnotihi” or in other words “where talent meets opportunity” has been the Indian Premier League’s motto over its fourteen years. Providing opportunities to youngsters and seeing them blossom has been one of the building blocks of the IPL’s success and plenty of Indian and international cricketers have received their primary schooling while donning their IPL colours. Players like Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, T Natarajan and most recently Devdutt Padikkal have all come through the IPL system and that has made them the cricketers they are today. That being said, today we are taking a look at five youngsters who could make a name for themselves in this edition of the IPL.
5. Riley Meredith
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The Punjab Kings signed Australian pacer Riley Meredith for a mammoth Rs. 8 Cr in the auction. The 24-year-old recently made his debut for Australia in 2021 and is one of the fastest bowlers in the world, capable of clocking speeds over 150 kph consistently. While Meredith may not play every game for PKBS, he may be used in short sharp bursts on bouncy tracks with carry such as Mumbai or Kolkata and can be an extremely effective bowler at the top or in the middle overs as an enforcer. Meredith picked up 16 wickets in the Big Bash this season and could be one of the most exciting players to watch in IPL 2021.
4. Marco Jansen
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The scouting network of the Mumbai Indians runs far and wide and they always pull out one surprise every year. This season the one unknown player to watch out for from the Mumbai Indians is Marco Jansen – who they picked in the latter stages of the auction for his base price. The 20-year-old is an incredibly tall (6’8) left-arm pacer that can also provide some power-hitting at the death. Jansen has previously bowled to Virat Kohli in the nets in 2018 and has picked up 54 wickets in 15 first-class games. Jansen even received a stellar recommendation from MI opener and South African captain Quinton De Kock who stated that Jansen is ready to play at this level.
3. Finn Allen
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Roped in as a replacement for Josh Phillippe, Finn Allen has the potential to explode this season for Royal Challengers Bangalore. With Devdutt Padikkal side-lined after contracting Covid-19, Allen could be opening the batting with Virat Kohli at the start of the season. Allen burst onto the scenes in the 2018 U19 World Cup where he scored 338 runs with a strike rate of nearly 120. Allen recently made his debut for the Blackcaps against Bangladesh where he made an impressive 71 runs off 29 balls in a rain-curtailed 10 overs game.
2. Shahrukh Khan
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Shahrukh Khan had a stellar Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy with Tamil Nadu that earned him a maiden IPL call up with the Punjab Kings. Khan had a strike rate of 220 in the tournament and his late cameos with the bat were incredibly important to Tamil Nadu as they won the tournament under Dinesh Karthik’s leadership. Khan can make the real difference in a Punjab team that had a poor season in the UAE and were particularly weak when it comes to death overs hitting.
1. Abdul Samad
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Abdul Samad made his debut in IPL 2020 in the UAE and was impressive for the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the middle order. The 19-year-old had a strike rate of 177 in the tournament and played few important cameos as SRH eventually finished third after losing out to DC in Qualifier 2. After some experience playing at this level, Abdul Samad could have his breakout year in his sophomore season in the IPL. He is already a key member of the team coming in at number 6 to provide them with some lower-order hitting and also giving David Warner 1-2 overs a game as a 6th bowling option.
[Image Credit: IPL – Indian Premier League]
Shivaan Shah