5 Indian players likely to make their international debut in 2016

2015 saw settled Indian units battle it out in different parts of the world. Starting with an Australian summer with the Aussies, and ending with an Indian winter with South Africa, the personnel have been more or less constant. But with floundering performances, especially in the limited overs format and with the absence of a quality lower-middle order batsman in Tests, slots are sure to open up and try outs are sure to happen. We look at five players who are likely to make their international debut in the coming year, and the list contains fast bowlers, one top order batsman and quality all-rounders.

#1 Shreyas Iyer (Mumbai)

This young run-machine didn’t admire any cricketer as a kid. He chews gum and smashes bowlers out of the park. And when asked in interviews what success feels like, he brazenly states how girls started giving him more attention after he cracked the IPL.

Confident, relaxed and fearless – Shreyas Iyer is an embodiment of all these traits. Rohit Sharma has already labelled him as the next Virender Sehwag, and boy would Viru be happy to see Iyer take his place in the Indian team.

After struggling at the start of the season, against the ‘A’ teams of Australia and South Africa, Iyer went back to the drawing board. Post that there’s been no looking back for the 21 year old. A few of his Ranji scores this season read somewhat like this: 200, 83, 173, 137, 57, 91, and 75. Add the others, and what one gets is a staggering 931 runs at almost run a ball during the league phase of the Ranji Trophy. This in turn has created a massive gulf, both qualitative & quantitative, between Iyer and the other batsmen on the list of the highest run-getters.

Prior to this, Iyer had taken the world by storm with his heroics during IPL 2015 where he ended as the only uncapped batsman to feature in the list of top ten run getters, with 439 runs at a strike-rate of 130 – making him one of Delhi Daredevils’ brightest finds in recent years.  

At one point of time, Iyer’s WhatsApp status read: Be so good that no one can ignore you. Going by what he’s up to these days, it’s unlikely that the selectors will be able to ignore him for long.