IPL 2020: 5 youngsters to watch out for
The Indian Premier League has seen the birth of many stars right from its inception in 2008. Some names that you would remember right off of the top of your head would be Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah; these players came into the spotlight through the IPL and are now dominating world cricket.
For a majority of the others, the IPL has been a massive source of income. Earlier, the only cricketers that made a good amount of money were the national team cricketers. The domestic cricketers' main source of income would be tournaments like the Ranji trophy, apart from which they would have regular jobs.
These jobs would mainly be given by the companies for the players to represent them in corporate leagues. What the IPL has done for these cricketers is give them a good source of income, which ensures that they'd be able to focus on cricket without anything else getting in the way.
That in turn has helped churn out a finer league of cricketers and has also made domestic limited overs tournaments like the Vijay Hazare and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy extremely competitive.
The IPL has also seen a multitude of rags-to-riches stories which not only warm your heart, but also make you want the cricketers to succeed. The biggest examples of this would be the Pandya brothers.
Also see – IPL 2020 Team
Coming from a life of poverty, Krunal and Hardik together showed that working hard and seizing the opportunity whenever it comes are enough to make a person jump to great heights.
On that note, here is a look at five youngsters for whom this IPL could be the stepping stone of success:
1) Tom Banton
The right-handed wicket-keeper impressed one and all down under in the Big Bash League, and he also made his international debut last month. While Tom Banton hasn't fully shown the damage that he's capable of doing in the international scenario yet, he has a strike rate of nearly 165 in the T20Is that he has played for England.
The right-handed dasher, who is quickly becoming well-known for his 360 range of shots, was able to score 223 runs in just seven innings (with a highest score of 64) in what was his debut BBL season. What was more shocking was Banton's strike rate, which was a whopping 177!
Any veteran batsman would wear these stats as a badge of honor, and this is a rookie who had played such a competitive league for the first time. The stats may be impressive, but what really made the 21-year-old a hot item in the auction was his wide range of shots and ability to manipulate the field.
Having been bought by the Kolkata Knight Riders for his base price of Rs. 1 crore, Banton would be eager to join the KKR camp where he would not only spend time with some of the best players in the world, but also get ample face time with his country's skipper Eoin Morgan.