IPL 2019: 8 Rising stars who can be the X-factor for their teams

Another exciting season of the cash-rich league 2019 IPL is set to kick off on March 23. The Indian Premier League always brings surprises and, over the years, there have been many players who have come as a surprise package and performed exceedingly well in the tournament. Players like Manish Pandey, James Faulkner, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya and Rashid Khan have found fame with the IPL.

So here we take a look at one player from each franchise who could surprise fans this edition.

#8 Nicholas Pooran (Kings XI Punjab)

A talented wicket-keeper batsman, Nicholas Pooran is one of the future stars for West Indies cricket. The destructive left-hander has been in great form since CPL 2018. The 23-year-old performed exceedingly well in the 2018 T10 League and was the leading scorer of the tournament with 324 runs from nine matches at an excellent average of 54.00 and an unbelievable strike rate of 245.45.

He was in tremendous form in the recently-concluded Bangladesh Premier League as well. He scored 379 runs from 11 matches playing for Sylhet Sixers and was the fourth leading run-scorer of the tournament.

Nicholas Pooran will be playing for Kings XI Punjab in IPL 2019.

#7 Prayas Ray Barman (Royal Challengers Bangalore)

The 16-year-old Prayas Ray Barman is a leg-spinner from Bengal, who was surprisingly bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore for a whopping sum of INR 1.5 crore for the 2019 season.

The teenager made his List A debut for Bengal in the 2018 Vijay Hazare Trophy and had a memorable match as he picked four wickets against Jammu & Kashmir. He performed well in the whole tournament and was the leading wicket-taker for his team with 11 wickets from nine matches at an average of 23.00 and economy rate of 4.45.

Paras Ray Barman will be looking forward to making the most of his opportunities in the upcoming edition of IPL.