4 young batters India must groom after IPL 2024 ft. Ashutosh Sharma
It's that time of the year. After yet another season of IPL 2024, we'll review every small aspect of this extremely intriguing season bit by bit in detail.
Today we have young batters. This season wasn't purely of 20-22-year-olds making the headlines. And that was perhaps in the last few auction cycles, teams are now brimming with unpolished talent with only 11 (now, 12) spaces in the first team so there's no point in filling the liming squad bandwidth with youngsters.
Still, there were five of them who caught our eye because of their promise and what they can bring to the table for India in the future. Check them out:
#1 Ashutosh Sharma
It was a shame we didn't get to watch Ashutosh Sharma bat for more than nine innings, with only the first four of them being the actual display of his skills. Despite PBKS' struggles, they were reluctant to try him higher than number seven.
But in those four, he impressed all and sundry, scoring 30s of 17, 15, and 16 balls respectively. The quality of the shots stood out -- his ability to time everything cleanly even against the likes of Jasprit Bumrah under pressure was stunning.
And he's just 25 still and could be molded into a finisher of Rinku Singh's level with a few months of grooming by the national team.
#2 and 3 Ramandeep Singh and Angkrish Raghuvanshi
We can club these two Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) stars because they had a similar impact on their title-winning campaign. Angkrish, usually batting at No.3 in his debut season, scored 163 runs in seven innings with a strike rate of 155.24, while Ramandeep was more flexible and chipped in with 125 runs at 202.
Ankrish was almost like a pinch-hitter no one knew about and took the place vacated by Nitish Rana beautifully, handling pace and spin, often with the maturity of a 28-year-old. He has magnificent talent and passes the eye test too. Now it's just about finding consistent ways of scoring runs and making the chances count.
While Angkrish is still a teenager, Ramandeep recently turned 27. He has less time to make a mark but deserves opportunities in the India 'A' set-up purely because of how versatile a batter he is. He played multiple cameos throughout the season starting from the first match which were simply, underrated gems.
#4 Abishek Porel
It was the first match for the Delhi Capitals in 2024 where Abishek Porel made a long-lasting impression, coming on as the Impact Player and scoring 32 (10), most of them in the last over against the eventual Purple Cap winner Harshal Patel.
But DC hardly used him in that position after that. They slowly brought him closer and closer and then finally to the top of the order, even if it meant dropping Prithvi Shaw. But Porel's overall 327 runs at an average of 32.70 and a strike rate of 159.51 showed a couple of things - his versatility and ability to score quick runs in the powerplay plus a lack of experience to continue that after the powerplay.
The India 'A' environment can help him work on his weaknesses and improve his strengths. There's a gem in there somewhere, the whole of Bengal knows that. With a bit of work, India might get to know it too.