IPL 2020: Debutants to watch out this season

Over the years, the Indian Premier League (IPL) has witnessed a lot of fresh and young talent blossom into cricketing superstars.

It has officially become the home ground for talent acquisition as many players belonging to the Under 19 platform get to play against the best players of the world and prove themselves.

Since its inception in 2008, IPL has grown not only as a cricketing league but also as a community to promote cricket and highlight the young talent. 

Some renowned players in the current Indian team, such as Hardik Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah and Rishabh Pant were selected into the team after proving their prowess in domestic cricket and showcasing their skills on a bigger platform like IPL.

One of the most brilliant things to happen to Indian cricket, IPL has built a platform for the budding talent in India to showcase their skills and get recognised at an early stage in their career. 

This year’s IPL 2020 is under scrutiny with the rising levels of Coronavirus (COVID-19) disease. Hopefully, the league will be played as usual and the fans will witness sportsmanship and entertainment on the 22-yard pitch.

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The IPL auctions that were held in December saw franchises spend big on young cricketers from India and overseas.

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), were the two teams who went all-in on the debutants and spend some good amount of cash on young cricketers from the India U19 team. 

This season will be a great one to watch out as a long list of fresh faces will be seen.

Even though the teams are more likely to rely on experienced players and players who have proven before in the league for the teams, but this doesn’t mean that the youngsters don’t have a role to play.

IPL provides an opportunity for the fresh faces to showcase their capabilities and demonstrate their mettle in front of the world. 

Youngsters and fresh faces in the IPL have provided performances off the table over the years and with teams now investing more in debutants, we hope that more of such players rise to the occasions for their teams.

This year not only players from other countries will be playing for the first time but a lot of U19 World Cup heroes from India are also in the squads of various teams.

Let’s proceed further and see which all debut players can make a larger impact on the season.

Tom Banton

This destructive opener from England was one of the talking points before the IPL auctions and was expected to create a buzz amongst the franchises during the bidding hours.

As a debudant one among the IPL 2020 players He was one of the hottest prospects but was sold for his base price of 1 crore to Kolkata Knight Riders.

The young batsman is just 21 now and has broken a bundle of records in the domestic T20 tournament of England, T20 Blast. 

He finished as the second-highest scorer with 549 runs to his name in 13 matches with a strike rate of more than 160. A match-winning hundred and 4 fifties accounted to his brilliant tally of 500+ runs in the season.

Banton is all set to make his debut in the biggest cricketing league as an opener for the Kolkata Knight Riders and will hopefully serve the purpose along with solving KKR’s long-run problem of finding a good opener. 

Yashasvi Jaiswal

The 18-year old U19 World Cup hero, Yashasvi Jaiswal marked his arrival in the domestic season last year and since then has been on the top sheet of selectors and cricket experts.

One of the most important batsmen for India in the U19 World Cup, Yashasvi marked his presence with a series of brilliant scores throughout and stood for his team when others failed to.

In the auctions last year, he was one of the most important players and three teams fought to have the player in the squad until Rajasthan Royals bought him for 2.4 crores. 

He came into the spotlight after becoming the youngest cricketer in the world to score a List A double century.

It will be a delight to see him play his debut season in the Indian Premier League this year for Rajasthan Royals. He would like to continue his World Cup form and prove his mettle in the Indian Premier League against some of the best players in the world.

Alex Carey

The wicket-keeper batsman from Australia has shot to fame in the past 12 months and has been able to become the regular player in the Australian side in all three formats.

The wicket-keeper batsman established himself as a key player for the Kangaroos with his impeccable performance in the 2019 World Cup.

Even though the player is a late bloomer, he has a lot to give and this is what attracted the Delhi Capital towards him, who bought it for 2.4 crores. 

Alex will be trained under Australian legend Ricky Ponting this year and will look forward to improving his performance and playing style.

The Delhi Capital batting line-up is comprised mostly of Indian batsmen and with Alex Carey, they can expect a batsman who will hit hard batting at No. 6 or 7. With Alex Carey in the side, Delhi Capitals will get a certain kind of composure in their innings.

Ravi Bishnoi

Kings XI Punjab was one team in the auctions which decided to spend most of the money on debutants and upcoming cricketers.

One of the fresh faces bought by Kings XI Punjab was the Indian spinning wizard, Rai Bishnoi. One of the finest spinners of his age, Bishnoi was India’s support system with the spin bowling in the U19 World Cup.

The Jodhpur born leggie was already a big star before the World Cup and had proven his worth in domestic cricket. 

Kings XI Punjab spent a whopping price of 2 crores on the leg spinner, but with players like Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Krishnappa Gowtham and Murugan Ashwin in the squad, Ravi will have to give a good fight for a position in the team.

One good thing will come out of his presence in the Kings Xi training camp that he will be trained under the Indian spinning legend, Anil Kumble.

After his latest stint in the World Cup final, the fans hope that the player returns with a positive attitude and sportsman spirit on the field.

Sheldon Cottrell

Sheldon Cottrell, the man from West Indies known to celebrate his wickets with the military salute.

He was one of the biggest sales in the IPL this year and Kings XI Punjab looked happy after getting the player for a hefty price of 8.5 crores.

KXIP have a good taste of the Caribbean flavour with the feature players like Chris Gayle and Cottrell on their side.

The 30-year old left-arm pacer has been a regular feature of the West Indian national side and will hopefully create a similar stir for himself in the IPL too. 

Sheldon Cottrell comes handy with the bat too and can hit big shots down the order. The bowling all-rounder is a complete limited over package and the perfect fit for Kings XI Punjab.

Cottrell has played 25 T20Is and has 25 wickets to his name at an economy of 7.89, which will be a crucial factor for the Kings.