Uncapped Players to Look out for in IPL 2022
Written by: Prithvi (Puneite_)
The Indian Premier League is a stage where dreams are made and some become even bigger. A new sensation is born every year. It’s common to hear of players who are struggling to make ends meet finding themselves in the middle of a bidding war with franchises. In addition to fame and money, the IPL has provided young cricketers with the chance of sharing the dressing room with some of the biggest superstars in the game. It has certainly bridged the gap between domestic and international cricket.
The likes of Swapnil Asnodkar, Manpreet Gony, Abhishek Nayar, Shaun Marsh and many more became household names after the initial season and few of them were quickly fastracked in their respective national sides. Among the many stories, Kamran Khan’s has to be one of the most fascinating ones who was picked up by Rajasthan Royals in 2009 despite never playing professional cricket. The success of a team directly relates to the performance of its domestic uncapped players. Almost every franchise has a team of scouts and coaches dedicated to scouting upcoming players.
The league is booming with young domestic players and fans as usual are eager to see new, young talents showcase their abilities. Here are a few uncapped players who can play a vital role in the upcoming season.
Rahul Tripathi (Sunrisers Hyderabad)
SRH has once again shown a great deal of faith in uncapped Indian players as evident from their signings of Priyam Garg, Abhishek Sharma, Kartik Tyagi, Suchith, and Rahul Tripathi. Tripathi burst onto the scene in 2017 while opening for Rising Pune Supergiant. He racked up 391 runs at an impressive strike rate of 146. He had a a couple of off seasons with RR but was back at his best in KKR. Donning a new role, Tripathi batted in middle order and amassed 397 runs at a SR of 140. No wonder he fetched 8.5 crores in the auctions as he possesses the unique ability to attack from ball one. Abdul Samad and Umran Malik who were retained by SRH are also expected to light up the tournament.
Mahipal Lomror (Royal Challengers Bangalore)
RCB doesn’t have a left hander in their top 6 and this should make Mahipal Lomror a sureshot starter in the XI. Lomror’s biggest strength is playing spin as he displayed it with a 43(17) against KXIP last season. There are few options for RCB with the likes of Anuj Rawat in the mix. Luvinth Sisodia and Suyash Prabhudesai are other exciting youngsters brought in by the franchise. Shahbaz Ahmed turned out a surprise package last year when he changed the course of few games single handedly at crucial junctures. He took 7 wkts at an economy of 6.57.
Ramesh Kumar (Kolkata Knight Riders)
Known as Jalalabad’s Narine, Ramesh Kumar is a tennis ball sensation. He is extremely popular on the internet with his clips of batting and bowling attracting millions of views. There is one such clip where he scored a 50 in just 10 balls. He can turn the ball both ways hence he fetched the name Narine.
Shivam Mavi has been in KKR for 4 seasons and he has only gotten better. So far he has scalped 25 wickets for KRR at an economy of 8.30. Pat Cummins and Mavi are expected to share the new ball.
Tilak Varma (Mumbai Indians)
The southpaw from Hyderabad was a member of India’s U19 World Cup in 2020. He was picked by MI at 1.7 crores after facing a little competition from SRH, CSK and RR. His last outings in VHT and SMAT are one of the major reasons why so many franchises raised the paddle for him. He scored 215 runs in SMAT at a strike rate of 147.
Another player to watch out for is the 25-year old all-rounder Tim David. Though he has represented Singapore 14 times at T20 level, he is on Cricket Australia’s radar for the upcoming WT20. 282 runs at a strike rate of 146 in CPL 2021, 218 runs at SR 163 in 2021/22 BBL and 251 runs at SR 199 in PSL 2022 were the last 3 T20 assignments for David where he came out with flying colors. The strike rates are too good for a batter playing as a finisher. MI will look to slot him and Pollard at 5-6 batting positions. In addition to Tim David, MI have also managed to get U-19 sensation Dewald Brevis from South Africa. He recently scored over 500 runs in the U19 World Cup and has taken the CSA T20 tournament by storm with both bat and ball.
Shahrukh & Others (Punjab Kings)
In addition to roping in heavyweights like Bairstow, Rabada, Dhawan and Livinstone, PBKS have done a brilliant job in building a squad of talented uncapped players.
- Atharva Taide is an explosive opening batsman for Vidharbha. He scored 270 runs at a strike rate of 137 in SMAT.
- Harpreet Brar became the talking point of IPL when he dismissed de Villiers, Kohli and Maxell on debut.
- Arshadeep SIngh has picked up 30 wickets in his 2 seasons at the franchise.
- Raj Angad Bawa took a 5-wicket haul in the U19 World Cup Final.
The squad just gets better with Bengal pacer Ishan Porel and English all-rounder Benny Howell.
Their biggest buy was Tamil Nadu all-rounder Shahrukh Khan. He was expected to fetch huge sum just like he did last year. His last-ball heroics against Karnataka in SMAT Final is just a glimpse of his talent and skills. He has started the current Ranji Trophy season with a 100 which is a really good sign for the franchise.
The list is long and it reflects the amount of talent in the domestic circuit. Lalit Yadav, Sai Kishore are few other names to look out for!
Complete List of Odds of all IPL Teams
Mumbai Indians – 5.50
Delhi Capitals – 6.50
Kings XI Punjab – 6.50
Royal Challengers Bangalore – 8.00
Chennai Super Kings – 9.00
Rajasthan Royals – 9.00
Gujarat Titans – 10.00
Kolkata Knight Riders – 11.00
Sunrisers Hyderabad – 13.00
Lucknow Super Giants – 13.00
