The Indian Premier League (IPL) is around the corner. While a few players might have played international games and the Caribbean Premier League, the 13th edition of the IPL kickstarts cricket for many cricketers, not only in India but around the globe.
Season after season, there are players who use the opportunity in the IPL and take their game to the next level and try to break into the Indian team. Some of them will be the youngsters who are consistently performing in the domestic arena. Hence, here are five Indian players who will be looking to break into the national team.
Shubman Gill
It may well be argued that Shubman Gill has been in and around the Indian team for a while now. The Punjab top-order batsman has been in the reserves in quite a few series. However, he hasn’t got any opportunities yet. It was only in early 2019 that he made his international debut against New Zealand and that too because Virat Kohli had been rested after the first three ODIs.
Gill has been pretty good in the last couple of seasons in the IPL. Across the two seasons, he has scored 499 runs at an average of 33.27 and a strike-rate of 132.26. But the problem has been that Gill’s batting position hasn’t been fixed. He has moved around the batting order for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and in 14 out of the 24 innings he’s played, Gill has batted at 6 and 7.
He has opened only in six innings and has scored three fifties as well at the top. This year, things might be different and Gill is most likely to bat at the top and will get a full season to prove himself. Thus, he could be the one to watch out for.
Suryakumar Yadav
Suryakumar Yadav has been around in domestic cricket for a decade. However, he hasn’t been able to break or even come in the discussion as far as the Indian team is concerned. However, over the last year or so, his name has popped up in recent times. He has been in excellent form in domestic cricket and has been piling on the runs in the IPL as well over the last couple of seasons.
The switch to Mumbai Indians (MI) from Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in 2018 worked wonders for him. Yadav has moved to batting in the top three or at the maximum top four for MI while he was donned the finisher’s role for KKR. Hence, since 2018, the Mumbai-born batsman has scored 936 runs averaging nearly 35.
Last season, in the Vijay Hazare Trophy (India’s domestic 50-over competition), Yadav made 226 runs at an average of 113 and a strike-rate of 154.79. In the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (India’s domestic 20-over competition), he amassed 392 runs at an average of 56 and a strike-rate of 168.96. Thus, a good IPL might well see him make a middle-order (or rather No. 4) case in the white-ball sides.
Shreyas Gopal
Shreyas Gopal has been a pretty underrated performer in domestic cricket. He has been quietly going about his job and has been one of the top spinners for Karnataka over the last few years. He has even delivered in the IPL over the last couple of years and has the knack of picking up big names from the opposition line-up.
Moreover, Gopal has been pretty good over the last year or 18 months. In the 2019 season of the IPL, the Karnataka leg-spinner finished as the fourth-highest wicket-taker as he picked up 20 wickets at 17.35 apiece. He continued his great form in the Vijay Hazare and Syed Mushtaq Ali tournaments picking up 13 and 19 wickets respectively.
Hence, with Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal being the only wrist-spinners around the Indian white-ball teams, Gopal could be a decent addition.
Krishnappa Gowtham
This might just be a surprising name in this list. However, Krishnappa Gowtham is a utility cricketer, especially in white-ball cricket. He is a very effective off-spinner who can bowl at any stage of the innings and can don the finisher’s role with the bat. He may not have had a great IPL last year but he was excellent in 2018 where he had a strike-rate of 196.88 with the bat and picked up 11 wickets.
Moreover, last season, Gowtham performed consistently in domestic cricket as well and he has been doing so for some time now. The hard-hitting all-rounders from Karnataka picked up 15 wickets in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and had an economy of 4.30.
He may not be the most favourite to break into the Indian side but he will be eyeing a lower middle-order spot for sure. This year, he will feature in the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) side and will be looking to have a breakthrough season.
Ishan Porel
Here is another name that might come as a surprise. Ishan Porel might be looking to take his game to the next level and break into the Indian squad. He has been excellent in the last couple of seasons. When we talk about India’s Under-19 fast bowlers from the 2018 edition, you generally tend to talk about Shivam Mavi and Kamlesh Nagarkoti. However, Porel was a part of that pace attack too.
He has transitioned well from the Under-19 circuit to the domestic level. The Bengal pacer was impressive in the 2019 domestic season and took wickets across all three formats. He has been in and around the India ‘A’ side as well. In three List ‘A’ games on India’s tour to New Zealand earlier this year, Porel picked eight wickets.
In white-ball cricket, he has the pace and can bowl excellent yorkers too. Hence, he seems to be a great addition to the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) side and might just be their breakout star.
