IPL 2023: Top five Youngsters: From Kargil War veteran’s son Dhruv Jurel to 19-year-old Suyash Sharma. Five Young players to watch out in IPL 2023.
The initial phase of the sixteenth season of Indian Premier League (IPL) has displayed some inspiring performances from the young players who have all the abilities and skills to showcase in the future.
Let’s take a look at the five youngsters and how they have performed so far in this season.
19-year-old Suyash Sharma battled through early tussle to wreak havoc against RCB on IPL debut
Back in 2016, former Delhi cricketer Kartar Nath, who was in charge of Dena Bank’s team for the Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) league received a call from Suresh Batra, who sadly passed away in 2021, about a very promising and upcoming leg-spinner, Suyash Sharma. Batra’s word was grabbed with proper seriousness given how he had groomed Virat Kohli during his initial years in West Delhi.
One of the ‘X-factor’ for Suyash Sharma was that he had the skill to turn the googly by a huge angle making it difficult to pick. But it was hard for him at the initial stage; due to not having proper documents, Suyash was ignored from the Under-19 state competition. To add more setbacks, his father was detected with cancer but former Delhi spinner and current Mumbai Indians manager, Rahul Sanghvi helped him financially.
“Uske hath mein spin karne ki ability thi (He had the ability to spin the ball). He wasn’t very tall but the technique of the delivery was really good,” Suyash’s U-25 state team head coach, Pankaj Singh praised how Suyash used to bowl the leg-break and the googly with the same action. “In fact, the speed of his googly is almost the same as his leg break.”
After being picked up in the trials of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the IPL, Suyash Sharma played his first game as an impact player against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) before a crowd of around 70,000 at the Eden Gardens and he picked up 3/30 in his four overs including the wicket of Dinesh Karthik. KKR will hope to get some more consistent results from Suyash going deep into the tournament.
Dhruv Jurel: An aggressive batter who led India to the U-19 Asia Cup title
Dhruv Jorel, famously known as ‘Captain Dhruv,’ who carried India’s Under-19 team to the Asia Cup title has been a household name in Agra’s Defense Colony. “I feel really proud when someone says ‘look, that’s Dhruv Jurel,” the 22-year-old told The Times of India.
Before the title victory, Dhruv was only known because of his father Nem Singh Jurel, a Kargil war veteran, who was sent to Kargil in 1999, before Dhruv’s birth. Nem didn’t think his son would represent India on the cricket field, the way he did on the battlefield.
“My father wanted me to go to the NDA (National Defence Academy). He wanted to see me as an Army officer,” Dhruv expressed. “But I had already fallen in love with cricket and all I wanted to do was play this sport.”
Jurel, who is a big fan of AB de Villiers and idolises MS Dhoni, was thrilled when he was picked up by Rajasthan Royals at his base price during the auction. And he walked out to bat as an ‘Impact Player’ in his debut IPL game; definitely, he has something special for which he was sent ahead of a seasoned international like Jason Holder.
The lap shot he played over fine leg for a six against Nathan Ellis displayed his immense skill. He nailed Arshdeep Singh over extra cover for another maximum to remain on 32* in just 15 balls. Rajasthan will hope that this young right-hander will do wonders for them in the upcoming days.
Prabhsimran Singh displaying his real worth for Punjab Kings
Punjab’s Prabhsimran Singh, who stole the limelight at the age of just 17 after being bought for INR 4.8 crore in 2018 by Punjab Kings (then named as Kings XI Punjab) after an intense bidding war, became a young millionaire in Indian cricket.
Earlier in that same year, Prabhsimran smashed an eye catching 298 off just 301 balls against Amritsar in the semi-final of the Punjab U-23 Inter-District Cricket Tournament. After being ignored by U-19’s team for their tour to Sri Lanka, Prabhsimran carried India U-19 team to the Asia Cup in 2018. On his debut first class game against Himachal Pradesh in 2022, Prabhsimran Singh smacked a shining 123-run knock.
But he wasn’t showing his worth in the IPL scoring just 64 runs in the first four seasons and eventually the price came down to INR 60 lakh. But 2023 is different. In Punjab’s very first game against Kolkata Knight Riders, Prabhsimran crunched 23 runs in 12 balls with the help of couple of boundaries and same number of sixes.
It went to a different level when he carried this form to a 60-run knock in 34 balls with the help of seven boundaries and three over boundaries against Rajasthan Royals. Most of his shots were nailed with power and elevation and Punjab will hope to get the same knocks going forward.
Sai Sudarshan: A technically sound player grabbing his opportunities
Sai Sudharsan had a breakout season in the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) 2021 becoming the second-highest run getter with 358 runs in eight innings at an average of 71.60 and strike rate of 143.77. He comes from a fairly sporting background where his father Bharadwaj represented India at the South Asian (SAF) games, while his mother Usha Bharadwaj represented Tamil Nadu in volleyball.
Sai Sudharsan has been so fluent on all parts of the ground and with his high-elbowed drives and slog sweeps, he could be aggressive when required. He is someone who has the ability to construct an innings as well as hit out in the middle overs and at the death.
After being picked in the IPL 2022 auction for INR 20 lakh by Gujarat Titans, Sudharsan didn’t have a great debut season with 145 runs in five innings at an average of 36.25 and strike rate of 127.19 including one half century. He might not have got a place in the playing eleven had Kane Williamson remained fit to play.
In his second game of IPL 2023 against Delhi Capitals, Sudharsan began with a beautiful drive but the shot of the evening was scooping the thunder ball of Anrich Nortje over fine leg and he did it twice almost. Again, when he powered Kuldeep Yadav over wide of extra cover for a boundary, it just showed his timing and elegance. He remained unbeaten on 62 in 48 balls and Gujarat would hope to see the rise of Sudharsan at number three.
Tilak Verma: A delight to watch Mumbai Indians’ new recruit
The 20-year-old Tilak Verma has such an inspiring story who have come from a humble background. Hailing from Hyderabad, Verma’s father Namboori, who is an electrician couldn’t afford to continue his son’s cricket coaching. So, his coach, Salam Bayash took care of all his expenses, providing all the training kits and other equipment.
Tilak, who had a base price of INR 20 lakh, was finally picked by Mumbai Indians at a price of INR 1.70 crore. And suddenly he came the subject of discussions in the cricketing world. He talked about how he called his parents after the auction and no one could speak at all and ended up disconnecting the call.
“Papa was unable to talk at all. I said that I have been selected for Mumbai Indians and I too have no idea what to say!” Verma expressed “Then they said that I am disconnecting the phone; it was the most emotional moment of life.”
In his very first season, Tilak notched up 397 runs in 14 games at an average of 36.09 and at a strike rate of 131.02. But he began IPL 2023 exceptionally against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Mumbai were losing wickets from one end but Tilak stood there strongly with an 84-run knock in just 46 deliveries with the help of nine boundaries and four sixes. The shots displayed that this young left-hander has all the skills to do wonders in the future.
All these young players have to carry their form throughout the whole IPL season to get an eye of India’s national selectors.
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