Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL
Indian Premier League (IPL) has given several quality players throughout the years - be it Pandya brothers (Hardik and Krunal), pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah or any other player. While they all have become familiar faces in the Indian team, there are a few who are on the radar and have all the possibilities to get selected in the squad of the upcoming T20 World Cup which will be played in India later this year.
Given we are just months away from the T20 World Cup, here are the five picks who can possibly make it to India's squad for the world event.
1. Devdutt Padikkal
Devdutt Padikkal, young and talented opener of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), was the emerging player of IPL 2020. He had scored 473 runs in his inaugural season in the cash-rich league, becoming the highest run-getter for RCB. The uncapped Indian player, who often faces comparison with the veteran Yuvraj Singh, had scored five fifties in the season.
His rich form was seen during the Vijay Hazare Trophy this season where he smashed a whopping 737 runs from 7 matches and finished as the second-highest run-getter after Prithvi Shaw. He continued his onslaught in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) and hit his maiden IPL century against Rajasthan Royals on April 22.
Although India have plenty of options for the top-order, Padikkal has certainly stamped his authority with his exceptional performances to be one of them as well.
2. Varun Chakravarthy
Varun Chakravarthy hogged the limelight while playing for Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2020 IPL season. After having a poor season with Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) in 2019, he had a stunning season with KKR which earned him a call up in the India T20I squad for their series against Australia.
Unfortunately, he had to miss the tour Down Under owing to his shoulder injury. He had scalped 17 wickets at an economy of 6.84 in IPL 2020, which also included a five-wicket haul. Although he has taken only 4 wickets in as many games in the ongoing IPL, his earlier performances could help him getting selected in the Indian team for the upcoming marquee event.
3. Kartik Tyagi
Team India have got several quality players in the national team on the back of their U-19 performances - be it the captain Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja or in recent times, Prithvi Shaw, Shubman Gill and a few. They all have earned their national call-up soon after their stunning show in the ICC Under-19 World Cup.
And, one of them can be the pacer Karthik Tyagi. The lanky pacer hit the headlines after picking 11 wickets at an average of 13.90 and an economy rate of 3.45 in the ICC Under-19 World Cup 2020. While his bowling action is often compared to the pace spearhead Brett Lee, his handy yorkers and good knuckle-balls can trouble any batsman and we have seen that in his maiden season in the Indian Premier League where he played for Rajasthan Royals.
However, his stunning show helped him to be with the Indian team as he was picked as a reserve pace bowler in the Indian set-up for the tour of Australia. Although Team India have quality pacers in their kitty, his addition will add more strength to it.
4. Abdul Samad
Sunrisers Hyderabad have given opportunities to uncapped players like Abhishek Sharma, Priyam Garg and a few others in their playing eleven so far. Abdul Samad has emerged as one the most impressive players among them. He showed his class and played a fearless brand of cricket which speaks at length about his immense potential too.
Samad recently smashed 19 off 8 deliveries including two sixes against the Kolkata Knight Riders in Chennai but couldn't impress after that. He is known for his big six-hitting ability in the lower order and has a strike rate of 113 in first-class cricket, 128.45 in List-A cricket and 146.45 in T20 cricket. He scored 63 off just 38 deliveries while playing for Jammu and Kashmir against the Services in the Vijay Hazare Trophy earlier this year.
Batting great like Brian Lara believes that the 19-year old from Jammu and Kashmir has the potential to emerge as one of the players of the IPL this year. In case Samad manages to play the role of a proper finisher for SRH in IPL 2021, he can be selected in the Indian team as the national side are also struggling to find a perfect match.
5. Shahrukh Khan
Shahrukh Khan, the name came into the news during the Vijay Hazare Trophy and then Punjab Kings (PBKS) bought him at a price of INR 5.5 crores at the mini-auction ahead of IPL 2021.
With his ability to finish the game, big-hitting and fearless approach, he has become a unique cricketer who can trouble the bowlers. Even, recently PBKS coach Anil Kumble also compared him to the Mumbai Indians' Kieron Pollard.
But the youngster has a lot of competition in the side as there are a few experiencd players available in the form of Deepak Hooda, Sarfaraz Khan and Mandeep Singh in the middle-order of the PBKS playing XI. But given the exceptional talent in him and his recent swashbuckling form, we could see him donning the Indian jersey as well.
