IPL has been a conveyor belt for producing talents over the years. The tournament, which changed the dynamic of T20 cricket, has produced a plethora of Indian talents in its past 16 years, and we can assure the upcoming season will be the same.
Since its inception, IPL has rewarded its best young talent with the Emerging Player Award. Since 2008, the best young talent has been crowned with the award.
There are a few criteria to win the Emerging Player award. To win the accolade, a player shouldn’t be more than 25 years old and must have limited exposure to the tournament. Here are the criteria to become the Emerging Player in IPL 2024-
IPL 2024 Emerging Player Criteria
1) The player should have been born after 1st April 1998.
2) Also, the player in contention should not have played more than 25 Indian Premier League matches at the start of an IPL season.
3) The player should not have played more than 20 ODIs and 5 Test matches for his country
4) The player in contention should not have won the Emerging award previously.
Some stalwarts of the game have previously graced the awards. Let us have a look at all the Emerging Award Winners from IPL 2008 to IPL 2023-
IPL: Complete List of Emerging Player Award Winners
IPL 2008: Shreevats Goswami (Royal Challengers Bengaluru)
India U19 World Cup winner Shreevats Goswami was the first recipient of the Emerging Player Award back in 2008. He played for RCB that year and played a few decent knocks. He scored 82 runs in that season in four matches.
IPL 2009: Rohit Sharma (Deccan Chargers)
India captain Rohit Sharma already was a T20 World Cup winner back then. But in 2009, a young Rohit powered Deccan Chargers to their maiden IPL title. He scored 362 runs in 16 matches for the Chargers that year, and believe it or not, the India captain picked up 11 wickets with his off-break.
IPL 2010: Saurabh Tiwary (Mumbai Indians)
Saurabh Tiwary, who recently retired from cricket, was excellent for Mumbai Indians in 2010. He scored 419 runs and won the Emerging Player Award. The left-handed batter scored three fifties in that season.
IPL 2011: Iqbal Abdulla (Kolkata Knight Riders)
KKR’s Iqbal Abdulla was one of the key players in Gautam Gambhir’s first season at the franchise. The left-arm spinner picked up 16 wickets in the tournament and took the Knight Riders to the playoffs, a first in their history.
IPL 2012: Mandeep Singh (Kings XI Punjab)
Punjab Kings were known as Kings XI Punjab back then and Mandeep Singh was a key performer for them in 2012. Mandeep scored 432 runs in the tournament at an average of 27 and was the highest scorer for Punjab in that season.
IPL 2013: Sanju Samson (Rajasthan Royals)
Sanju Samson won the award in 2013. It was his breakthrough season at Rajasthan Royals and the Kerala-born amassed 206 runs in that year. Rajasthan failed to advance to the playoffs but Samson was their brightest spark that season.
IPL 2014: Axar Patel (Kings XI Punjab)
A 20-year-old Axar Patel was excellent for Punjab in 2014. He picked up 17 wickets in that season and Punjab also went to the Final of the tournament. Interestingly, that is the last time Punjab ever qualified for the playoffs.
IPL 2015: Shreyas Iyer (Delhi Daredevils)
Shreyas Iyer’s journey in the IPL flourished with Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals). In the year 2015, which was Shreyas’ first exposure to the league, the batter amassed 439 runs in 14 matches and was the 4th highest Indian run-getter. He scored four half-centuries that season with a highest of 83 against Mumbai Indians.
IPL 2016: Mustafizur Rahman (Sunrisers Hyderabad)
Mustafizur Rahman is IPL’s only foreign Emerging Player so far. The Bangladeshi pacer was phenomenal for Sunrisers in 2016 and was a key contributor in their title-winning campaign. He picked up 17 wickets in the season and had one of the best economies (6.90 rpo) that year.
IPL 2017: Basil Thampi (Gujarat Lions)
Kerala’s Basil Thampi had a stellar season wearing Gujarat Lions colours in 2017. Thampi picked up 11 wickets for the Lions. Sadly, the player failed to kick on from that season and is now without a team in the IPL.
IPL 2018: Rishabh Pant (Delhi Capitals)
Rishabh Pant was the 2nd highest run scorer in IPL 2018 with 684 runs for the Delhi Capitals. The southpaw was amazing for DC that season and scored with a Strike Rate of 173.6. His best knock that year came against SRH, when he scored a superb 128 off just 63 balls.
IPL 2019: Shubman Gill (Kolkata Knight Riders)
Shubman Gill won the award in 2019 after scoring 296 runs in 14 matches at an average of 32. He was excellent for the Knight Riders that season including three half-centuries.
IPL 2020: Devdutt Padikkal (Royal Challengers Bengaluru)
Devdutt Padikkal was the highest run-getter for RCB in 2020. The southpaw amassed 473 runs in 15 matches including five fifties. He will be donning the Lucknow shirt this season.
IPL 2021: Ruturaj Gaikwad (Chennai Super Kings)
It didn’t start well for Ruturaj Gaikwad in 2021. But the CSK batter turned things around and scored 635 runs for his team that season including 4 fifties. Gaikwad was 24 that season and since he has become an indispensable part of Chennai’s squad.
IPL 2022: Umran Malik (Sunrisers Hyderabad)
Umran Malik, with his express pace, caused a lot of distress among batters in IPL 2022. The SRH pacer was excellent with 22 wickets for them that term and won the Emerging Player Award. He also got an India call-up after his IPL plaudits.
IPL 2023: Yashasvi Jaiswal (Rajasthan Royals)
Yashasvi Jaiswal’s rise to the elite stage soared in 2023 when the young batter scored 625 runs for Rajasthan Royals. He scored five fifties and a superb hundred, which came against KKR. Jaiswal’s brilliant batting has taken him to places in the last twelve months as he has established himself in the Indian Test team as well.
Sauradeep Ash Mykhel
source: mykhel.com