IPL 2020: 5 Uncapped National Players to Watch Out For

By
- Tweet
- Pin It
Updated: January 15, 2020
1707

IPL 2020: 5 Uncapped Indian Players to Watch Out For

On the 19th of December this year, the franchises of the biggest club-based spectacle, the IPL, went into a bidding war. As most franchises intended to deal with their deficiencies, not many players had the good fortune to be associated with a reputable IPL team. Only 61 players from the lot were lucky enough to get selected, with Rajasthan Royals purchasing the most number of players. The battle for overseas attractions such ass Glenn Maxwell, Pat Cummins and Chris Morris garnered a lot of attention in this auction.

As everyone knows by now, the IPL is the biggest platform for youngsters to prove their mettle. State-leagues like the KPL and TNPL act as a developmental platform before the big stage. One does not need to state about the benefits that a player receives from being a part of this month-long mega-event. If he performs consistently in the IPL, the doors to the national team also open eventually.

Not only does this tournament focus on players, but investments in the right ones can be extremely beneficial for franchises as well. With that being said, this list talks about five uncapped Indian players who might be the biggest bargains in the tournament for their respective IPL franchises.

5 Uncapped Indian Player list

Nitish Rana

Nitish is not a dark-horse in the most prominent sports party of the summer in India. For the Kolkata Knight Riders, he has been able to turn quite several heads in the last two seasons of the IPL. The Shahrukh Khan owned franchise was able to scoop him up from the Mumbai Indians at a meager sum of INR 3.40 crore previously. At the domestic level, Nitish Rana is part of the Delhi squad but is yet to have a breakthrough season under his belt. He was not that impressive in SMAT 2019 either, averaging less than 30 at an average strike-rate of 144.00. His records were a little better in the Vijay Hazare tournament, where he was able to score a fifty and a hundred, but his strike-rate, on the other hand, was less than 80.

This Delhi bloke is quite formidable on flat surfaces where the ball comes to the bat quite nicely. Eden Gardens would be the most suitable ground for him as the pitch favors batting beautifully, with an added advantage of shorter boundaries. His gameplay involves him being generally unique with spin. With KKR, he was able to score around 650 runs at an average of 30 with a strike rate of about 140. 2019 was the best season in IPL.

Krishnappa Gowtham

Lately, he is one of the guys who have been firing on all cylinders in every format of the game. In exchange for Ankit Rajpoot, Gowtham was traded from the double-R to the Kings XI Punjab. Despite being roped in at a sum of INR 6.2 Crores, he was not able to justify his price in both the seasons that he represented Rajasthan Royals.

However, 2020 is looking to be a different ball-game as he scored a ton with an 8-wicket haul in a single KPL game. However, this was not visible in the record books as the state leagues are devoid of the T20 status. In the KPL 2019, Gowtham was on top of the list of wicket-takers as he scalped 21 wickets in only eight appearances. In the SMAT 2019 final, he was able to defend 13 runs in the final over and finished with decent numbers.

Devdutt Padikkal

For a while now, Devdutt Padikkal has been talked about in the domestic cricketing circuit of the country. Since the beginning of the Karnataka Premier League or the KPL, this young gun has been quite impressive this year. Being a consistent lad, he has been one of the hidden gems in recent memory.

In the KPL, he was the top-scorer, accumulating over 300 runs under his belt. It was merely a stepping stone for him as he amassed over 600 runs in the Vijay Hazare trophy, thus making him the highest scorer here as well. Even in the 3-hour format of the game, he was able to silence his critics by being at the top of the run-charts and leading Karnataka to championship glory too.

Only in 12 T-20 matches that he has been a part of, the 19-year old was able to score 580 runs. His average was 64 with a magnificent strike-rate of 175. This is clearly a future star to watch out for!

Shreyas Gopal

He has been one of those uncapped young guns who have already set the IPL ablaze. For just 20 Lakh INR, Rajasthan Royals made one of the biggest bargains two years ago. It has been one of the best deals in the history of the tournament, as he was able to snare 31 scalps in only 21 innings. There were five occasions in the 2018 edition of the IPL, where he was able to take three or more wickets.

It is still a shocker as to why he has not been selected for the national team yet. Not only that, until things drastically change, he is not in the plans for the T20 2020 World Cup Squad either. The 26-year has quite several tricks up his sleeve and he would be a good bet for any team. His scalping of A.B. de Villiers four times and Virat Kohli thrice is a testament to how good his Googly is.

Suryakumar Yadav

Being a Knight Rider earlier, Suryakumar Yadav was quite the performer for the Kolkata-based franchise. However, he was able to grab the spotlight in the last edition of the IPL, when he was a consistent and prolific performer for the Mumbai Indians. The Mumbai-based franchise used him both as an opener in 2018 and as a first-down in 2019, and he was able to accomplish both tasks quite well.

For his franchise, Suryakumar has been the leading run-scorer. With an average of approximately 35, Suryakumar has garnered an astonishing S.R. of over 130 in 30 appearances. He can be an ace in any line-up as he covers all the required fields necessary to be a quality upper-middle order batsman.

Only in four innings, he was able to play a fantastic cameo role in the Vijay Hazare trophy. He averaged 52 with a superb strike-rate of 158 in the tournament. With his magnificent batting display, all eyes would be on him during the 13th edition of the IPL.