As the 17th season of the IPL enters its final quarter, here’s a look into which Indian players could potentially make their T20I debuts in the near future.

The 2024 T20 World Cup starts one week after the end of IPL 2024. India’s squad for the World Cup was announced on April 30 after a lot of build up and discussions around who deserved a place and who didn’t. Along with the 15 members named in the main squad, four reserves have also been named. None of the 19, however, are new to the T20I circuit and have played the shortest format for India before.

With the World Cup squad comprising of several seniors for whom it might be a last hurrah in T20Is, there’s a sense of anticipation among fans with respect to India’s future in the format after the T20 World Cup.

Following the T20 World Cup, India are scheduled to play five T20Is against Zimbabwe and three against Sri Lanka in July, followed by three T20Is against Bangladesh. These 11 games will provide the selectors a good opportunity to build a team for the future and give a go to several performers from this season’s IPL who haven’t played T20Is for India before. Here are some of the players who could potentially make their T20I debuts after the T20 World Cup for India.

Riyan Parag

Riyan Parag has been lighting up domestic cricket for the last year and has now finally converted his promise into returns at the IPL. At the time of writing, he has scored more than 400 runs and hit 28 sixes, the second most by an Indian batter so far in IPL 2024. It is only a matter of time before he gets his maiden T20I call up.

Abhishek Sharma

Riyan’s teammate from the 2018 U-19 World Cup, Abhishek has surprised one and all with his relentless attack at the top of the order for SRH. A swashbuckling left-handed opener who can also send down overs of left-arm spin, even with the new ball, Abhishek is set to have a long T20I career. It wouldn’t be a surprise if it begins right after the 2024 T20 World Cup.

Shashank Singh

The 32-year-old late bloomer is finally having his moment in the sun after moving around franchises and barely getting games for several years. Currently he is the highest scorer for Punjab Kings, with 315 runs at a strike rate of 165. A versatile batter who can bat across phases and take on both spin and seam with equal intent, Shashank has shown that he is the quintessential T20 middle order batter – a genre of players India don’t have a lot of. Expect him to don the blue (and now a bit of orange as well) jersey soon.

Sai Sudharshan

The left-handed top order batter has already made his ODI debut when he played against South Africa last year. Having shown incredible consistency for Gujarat Titans since 2022, Sudharshan has proved that he is one of the best young T20 anchors going around the country. An India call up won’t be too far away for him.

Nitish Kumar Reddy

The Sunrisers Hyderabad seam-bowling all-rounder has already got a lot of people excited with his current skills and future potential. A middle order batter who can arrest collapses and accelerate as and when required, Reddy is also more than handy with the ball, with the ability to bowl in the powerplay as well as later in the innings. With Hardik Pandya being as injury prone as he is, India would like to get Reddy into the setup as soon as possible and start grooming him for what seems set to be a long international career ahead.

In his second game into Sunrisers Hyderabad's XI, Nitish Kumar Reddy top scored in their innings, striking five sixes in his innings.#IPL2024 pic.twitter.com/dNFuoRfq5p

— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) April 9, 2024

Harshit Rana

The KKR speedster has displayed a wide array of skills, including an ability to hit the deck hard and bowl effective cutters that grip and deviate by a fair margin even on surfaces that don’t offer any help (case in point: Eden Gardens). He currently has 14 wickets from eight games at an economy of 9.5 runs per over. While his batting has not been utilised, Harshit can also hit some lusty blows lower down the order, again a commodity India are not blessed with a lot of. Expect to see him in the T20I team some time this year.

Yash Dayal

The left-arm seamer was included in a special fast bowling contracts list earlier this year. He can swing the new ball both ways and also has the ability to land good yorkers. In what has been a difficult season for RCB, Dayal has been one of the few positives, having taken ten wickets at an economy of 8.9. India might look to invest in him as a backup for Arshdeep Singh, who has lacked rhythm recently.

Mayank Yadav

The tearaway LSG quick who took the world by storm on his IPL debut this year is bound to get a T20I call up as soon as the selectors are confident of his fitness levels. He is currently sidelined through injury and is expected to miss the remainder of the IPL. If not the Zimbabwe series, which follows the T20 World Cup, both him and India fans would be hoping to see him in India colours against Sri Lanka or Bangladesh later this year.

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