With IPL 2024 season fast-approaching, former cricketers and coaches of the teams spoke about the emerging stars of the Indian Premier League and Indian cricket who will become future stars.
IPL has provided a platform for young Indian cricketers to fulfill their dream of playing for the senior national team. Also some have gone from the fringes to become superstars like Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal to name a few.
Many players have broken into the national team reckoning most recenly based on their IPL and domestic cricket performances. During an episode of Legends Lounge, JioCinema IPL experts Anil Kumble, Mike Hesson, Eoin Morgan and Robin Uthappa spoke about the aforementioned players and w
Former Indian spinner Kumble, who served in the head coach role at PBKS, was full of praise for Rinku Singh’s match-winning ability despite playing in the “extremely difficult” finishers role.
“Rinku Singh is someone who’s going to be really special. With the role he plays for KKR and India and the opportunities that he’s got, it’s been extremely difficult to come in at No. 6 or No. 7 and win a game for your team. That, to me, is special,” Kumble said.
While Kumble is also impressed with Gujarat Titans’ Sai Sudarshan’s ability and technique, the former leg spinner in him wants to see more wrist-spinners coming through in the upcoming season.
“There are quite a few. Sai Sudharsan was very impressive. I think he’s someone who can play all three formats. He has the technique and the ability. I would like to see more wrist spinners coming through,” Kumble added.
Former World Cup-winning England captain and Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Eoin Morgan also echoed Kumble and praised his former teammate Rinku for his calmness in the finisher’s role.
“I was in the KKR squad with him from 2020 to 2022. You sit back and admire the work ethics over everything, combined with his attitude. It’s a role that can be very unforgiving at times,” former KKR captain said.
“You have to be concise and calm but also have to pick your time and match-up to accelerate the run rate. Right now, Rinku Singh is making a lot of good decisions.”
Former Royal Challengers Bangalore director of cricket Mike Hesson, on the other hand, feels Rajat Patidar is special as he picked the Indian batter as one of the players to hit the ball into the stands from the crease.
“One who’s dropped off the radar a little bit is Rajat Patidar. I worked with him in RCB and he missed last year’s IPL because of an operation. He’s one player who can hit sixes from the crease,” Hesson said.
The New Zealander also said “late boomer” Patidar can bat anywhere in the middle-order and has the ability to play pace and spin well, “It’s all well against spin when there’s no pace on the ball, coming down the wicket and banging it, but he actually can hit from anywhere.
“He’s incredibly powerful, plays pace well, and can bat anywhere between No 3 and 6. He’s probably a late bloomer, one of those players that’s taken a little while to learn the craft, but he’s special,” Hesson added.
Former Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals star batter Robin Uthappa picked players from his former sides Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel and Ruturaj Gaikwad as the ones who have impressed him in recent seasons.
“I worked closely with Yashasvi when he came into the IPL in 2020 with RR. He’s a bit of a cricket nut. He’s obsessed with the game. He knows nothing but cricket. He lives, breathes, and eats only cricket,” Uthappa said.
“You’ll see him walking off randomly on the beach, talking to himself and figuring his game out. An example of a practice session he had with the RR Academy was that he went into practice at 2 in the afternoon and finished at 12:45 at night and just kept batting.
“Another one of those for me is Ruturaj Gaikwad. He’s an all-format player and should have played for India a lot more than he has but the competition is so much that he hasn’t played much.
“Another one that’s coming up the ranks is Dhruv Jurel. I really like him. He’s one for the future and I think he plays that finisher’s role with panache.”
Mykhel Staff Mykhel
source: mykhel.com