IPL is the place where talent meets opportunity. More than any other season, the IPL 2022 threw up plethora of uncapped players, some youngsters and a few experienced in the domestic circuit, who impressed everyone.
As the 10-team tournament, which provided chances to many players who perhaps could have missed game time in the 8-team tournament, comes to its close, we look at the best of the best uncapped Indian players.
Here’s the best XI of uncapped Indian players in the IPL:
Openers: Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi
It was really a surprise when Rahul Tripathi wasn’t named in India’s squad despite his thrilling performances in the IPL 2022; batting at number 3 for SRH, Tripathi batted with proper intent – one required in T20 cricket – and scored 413 runs at a strike rate of 158 and was one of the best middle-overs batters in the tournament.
Tripathi’s SRH teammate Abhishek Sharma had his breakthrough IPL season when the management opened with him. After a couple of early failures, the left-hander got into runs and didn’t stop scoring, finishing as SRH’s leading run-scorer with 426 runs.
Middle-order: Tilak Varma, Rajat Patidar, Jitesh Sharma (wk)
Tilak Varma was perhaps the most impressive IPL debutant as the 19-year-old finished as Mumbai Indians‘ second-leading scorer with 397 runs, often being tasked to marshall the batting after failures of others around him. It was Varma’s maturity, temperament and technique that made skipper Rohit Sharma predict that he will play all three formats for India.
Rajat Patidar took the IPL by storm after coming in as Luvnith Sisodia’s injury replacement. Patidar scored 333 runs in 7 innings at a strike rate of 152, including a century in the Eliminator and a fifty in Qualifier 2.
Jitesh Sharma was another youngster who impressed with his temperament, showcasing his hitting skills in the death overs for Punjab Kings. In 10 innings, Jitesh scored 234 runs at a sizzling strike rate of 163 and was a safe house behind the stumps.
All-rounders: Rahul Tewatia, Shahbaz Ahmed
Both Rahul Tewatia and Shahbaz Ahmed contributed to their teams’ success either with bat or ball throughout the season. Tewatia smacked 217 runs at a strike rate of 147, including finishing a couple of run chases for Gujarat Titans.
Shahbaz made crucial strikes with the ball at times, and hogged attention with his calmness with the bat when the RCB top-order floundered, scoring 219 runs in the season, often bridging the gap between the top-order and the finishers.
Bowlers: Sai Kishore, Mohsin Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik
Arshdeep Singh and Umran Malik have received their maiden India call-ups for the South Africa series and both were scintillating with the ball, although Malik blew hot and cold, but Arshdeep was on point with his bowling in the death overs, and was arguably the best death bowler of the season.
Malik picked 22 wickets at an average of 20. And though Arshdeep had only 10 wickets to show, his death-overs economy of 7.31 is the best among all bowlers to have sent down at least 50 balls in that phase.
Mohsin Khan, too, was largely impressive and in fact, by the end of LSG’s campaign, became the skipper’s go-to bowler – snaring 14 wickets at a commendable economy of 5.96. Sai Kishore finally made his IPL debut and made an impact straightaway – in 4 matches, he’s picked up 4 wickets at a laudable economy of 7.21.
