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In 16 years of the IPL, one might not have witnessed a finish as thrilling, an inning as powerful and miraculous as the one Rinku Singh played to get KKR two points from nowhere.
This is an era where teams are looking for finishers to complete their sides, and while Australia has a whole bunch of players, South Africa has David Miller, England has Liam Livingstone, India is still searching for that player, and Rinku Singh could be the answer to that search. Or it could be Tilak Verma from the Mumbai Indians.
The Indian openers’ intent in the T20 format has been under siege for a long time. Yashasvi Jaiswal could be the answer to that question.
Beyond the glitz and glamour and the big-name stars that populate the league, the IPL has always served its true purpose of giving Indians a platform to shine.
Every season, a new crop of uncapped stars emerge, giving the national selectors a happy headache whenever they pick a squad. On that note, let’s look at the uncapped stars to keep an eye on from the Group A teams of IPL 2023.
Delhi Capitals
DC is another side known to back youngsters, with them trusting Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant with the captaincy, allowing them to lead them back to the top half of the IPL table. However, with neither of them playing for DC in IPL 2023, there is all the more onus on their uncapped players to deliver.
Pant’s replacement Abhishek Porel looks like a great find. The 20-year-old Bengal wicket-keeper has been safe with the gloves and packs a punch with the bat. One of DC’s purchases at the IPL 2023 Auction was that of Bengal pacer Mukesh Kumar for a whopping ₹5.50 Crore. He’s one to keep an eye on for this season.
They also have the services of Indian U-19 stars Yash Dhull and Kamlesh Nagarkoti to call upon. Yash Dhull deserves a special mention, with the U-19 captain finishing as the highest run-scorer in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2022.
The enormously talented Sarfaraz Khan, who has scored truckloads of runs in the domestic season, and the quintessential IPL utility player Lalit Yadav, rounds out a strong core of uncapped talents at DC.
Kolkata Knight Riders
Where to even begin? We’re three games into the season, and we’ve already seen two stellar efforts from KKR’s uncapped players. 19-year-old mystery spinner Suyash Sharma, who has never played first-class cricket, did tremendously well to burst onto the scene and pick up three wickets on his IPL debut against RCB.
However, the star of their season so far has to be Rinku Singh. KKR has placed its faith in the talented UP batter for a long time, and he seems to be repaying that faith. After a helpful 46-run knock against RCB, Rinku pulled off an absolute heist of a win for KKR against GT, smashing five consecutive sixes in the last over.
They also have keeper-batter Narayan Jagadeesan, who was in blistering form in the recently concluded Vijay Hazare Trophy. Swing bowler Vaibhav Arora and one of the best fielders in the league, Anukul Roy, round out KKR’s set of promising uncapped talents.
Lucknow Supergiants
KL Rahul’s LSG is another side that saw plenty of quality uncapped players take the field for them last season. Arguably the most impressive of the lot was left-arm pacer Mohsin Khan, who had a stellar IPL 2022. He picked up 14 wickets in only nine matches at an economy rate of 5.97; that’s almost unheard of for seamers! However, like Mukesh Choudhary, even Mohsin is ruled out of this season with an injury.
LSG seems to have placed their faith in young Vidarbha seamer Yash Thakur this season. With the bat, the highly rated Ayush Badoni will be LSG’s designated finisher. Used primarily as the Impact Player, Badoni did well in LSG’s opener against DC but couldn’t take them across the finish line against CSK. Saurashtra’s batting all-rounder Prerak Mankad is another player we could see taking the field at some point in IPL 2023.
Mumbai Indians
The Mumbai Indians need their uncapped players to deliver in the absence of their big-name stars if they want to have a chance of making the playoffs in IPL 2023. Known for their scouting and recruitment, MI has plenty of promising players, with Tilak Verma the pick of the lot.
The southpaw was their best batter last season and has carried that form into the IPL, producing a game-saving knock for MI in the first game against RCB, only for the bowlers to let them down.
Bowling all-rounders Arshad Khan and Hrithik Shokeen are a vital part of their bowling attack and should do better with the ball. Madhya Pradesh’s Kumar Kartikeya is MI’s most wicket-taking spinner, and he’ll need to take more responsibility alongside Piyush Chawla if MI wants to match up to the spin-bowling might of other teams.
Punjab’s Nehal Wadhera and Ramandeep Singh are handy lower-order batters capable of playing the big shots, with the latter also capable of contributing with the ball. Mumbaikar Shams Mulani is another spin-bowling option for them to consider.
Rajasthan Royals
In Yashasvi Jaiswal, RR has probably the best uncapped player in the league, and it’ll be a surprise if the southpaw doesn’t make his international debut soon. Opening the batting alongside Jos Buttler, Jaiswal has managed to outshine the Englishman and make him play second fiddle, and that speaks volumes about how much he has grown as a batter and the confidence he’s batting with.
They also have the talented keeper-batter Dhruv Jurel, who played a blinder against PBKS, almost pulling off an unlikely win for RR. RR has persisted with Riyan Parag for a while, but the returns haven’t really come from the all-rounder.
They also have a host of decent uncapped bowlers, starting with leg-spinner Murugan Ashwin and mystery spinner KC Cariappa, with ex-CSK seamer KM Asif providing cover for Kuldeep Sen.
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