Who are the young players to watch out for in IPL 2019? Here’s our list of wildcards for each franchise.
The world’s largest and most alluring T20 league, the Indian Premier League (IPL), has been home to some of the biggest names in international cricket. The likes of AB de Villiers, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle are as much IPL icons as they are international stars.
But the IPL is also a platform for the young, unheralded player – the wildcard. The league is replete with players with minimal or no international experience becoming household names through their performances in the tournament.
In the inaugural season, in 2008, Australia’s Shaun Marsh, who was yet to play for his country, created ripples with consistent batting performances to finish as the IPL’s leading run-scorer. Several more such players have followed suit. Ahead of the 2019 season, we look at the players who could leave behind a similar impact.
Deepak Chahar (Chennai Super Kings)
Cherry Chahar scalped a fiery 3fer for India A in a tight low-scoring match against the England Lions! #WhistlePodu #Yellove 🦁💛 pic.twitter.com/KyU8pQq0S7
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) January 31, 2019
The 26-year-old has played one ODI for India and promised a lot in IPL 2018, but wasn’t able to deliver consistently. Still, he took 10 wickets from 12 games at 27.8, with an economy rate of 7.28. Chahar is noted for his ability to generate movement with the new ball, which can cause trouble when batsmen are looking for to go big in the powerplay.
Siddarth Kaul (Sunrisers Hyderabad)
After a breakout season, in which he emerged England’s Player of the Series after their home Tests against India last year, Curran could hardly be thought of as an emerging player. But the 20-year-old all-rounder is still finding his feet in the limited-overs game; he has played just two ODIs for England, although it’s a tough team to break into.
But even in domestic cricket, Curran’s limited-overs numbers do not inspire much confidence, with a batting average of 15.93 and bowling average of 28.47 in T20s. The IPL offers him a great opportunity to translate the potential he showed in Test cricket to more impactful performances in the shorter formats.
