The IPL has held the motto of “Where talent meets opportunity” true and sound over its 15 years from 2008. And this is set to be carried on in IPL 2023 as well.
Every year, we see a number of young and/or uncapped players rise to the occasion and hog the limelights – mostly they are Indian because rarely an uncapped overseas player gets picked up in the auction – and take the attention of the fans through his performances.
Similarly, in the IPL 2023, there are a number of young, uncapped players to watch out for, who are likely to make a big impact this year to advance their stature in the eyes of national selectors.
Here are 3 young, uncapped players who could make a big impact in IPL 2023:
Tilak Varma
Tilak Varma has already made a bumper start to his Indian Premier League 2023 season, smashing 84* runs off 46 balls (strike rate of 182) against RCB, after Mumbai Indians lost early wickets. Varma, a 20-year-old left-hander, had to do the carryjob for most of the IPL 2022 as well where MI would lose early wickets and the youngster would stabalise the ship.
In IPL 2022, Tilak Varma scored 397 runs at an average of 36 and strike rate of 131, often coming after MI lost early wickets.
Rohit Sharma was so much impressed by the young southpaw that he predicted that Tilak Varma will play all three formats for India. Another good season in the IPL will certaintly being Varma close to a national call-up.
Ravi Bishnoi
It seems quite a distance memory when Bishnoi played for India – he featured in 10 T20Is in 2022, picking up 16 wickets at a brilliant economy of 7.09. However, for some unknown reason, Bishoni fell out of favor with the national selectors this year.
Nonetheless, the rookie leg-spinner – who has a tendeancy to bowl more googlies than leg-breaks, making him quite a unique leggie – has been doing well in the IPL: Ravi has snapped up 39 wickets in 39 IPL matches at a good economy of 7.54. Having an ability to turn the ball both ways, Bishnoi is indeed a unique leg-spinner and could have a breakthrough IPL season.
Sarfaraz Khan
It’s a known fact that Sarfaraz Khan has been bossing domestic cricket, more so in red-ball cricket than in white-ball cricket, in the past four years. The 25-year-old from Mumbai has been ransacking big runs in domestic cricket, but the selectors haven’t yet called him up for the national side.
Perhaps some good performances in the IPL for Delhi Capitals might open that door for him, who is set to take the gloves for DC in the IPL in the absence of Pant.
