India Tour of Sri Lanka: India’s uncapped IPL stars who could shine in Sri Lanka: India tour of Sri Lanka has come as a blessing in disguise for the talented IPL-produced Indian players waiting to don the Indian jersey. The opportunity for the bench players to cap themselves has sparkled under Shikhar Dhawan’s captaincy in the white-ball series tour (3 ODIs, 3 T20s) to Sri Lanka in July as the core Indian Team led by Virat Kohli is fulfilling its cricketing commitments in the United Kingdom. Of the 20-man Indian squad announced for the Sri Lanka tour, six uncapped players Chetan Sakariya, Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Nitish Rana, Varun Chakravarthy and K Gowtham will have their hearts racing for the Lankan tour.
Bestowed with skills and honing them under Rahul Dravid’s mentorship, the six uncapped players can roar loud on the Lankan soil.
InsideSport has a close look at the domestic stats and numbers ahead of the series.
Devdutt Padikkal
Recently hogged the limelight for smashing an undefeated 101 off just balls against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Mumbai during IPL 2021, the young Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) player rose to glory in IPL 2020, his maiden season. The young RCB gun surpassed the likes of senior players- AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli to become the highest run-scorer for his side, amassing 473 runs in 15 matches.
He featured with the same boiling form in Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021 where he smashed 737 runs in just 7 innings that included four hundred. The left-handed power hitter scintillated high in the 2019-20 season of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy where he was not only the leading run-getter of the tournament with 580 runs in 12 matches but also struck at a rate of 175.75 including a hundred and five fifties.
Ruturaj Gaikwad
Though for Chennai Super Kings (CSK), IPL 2020 was a season to forget owing to their worst-ever performance, this was not the case for Ruturaj Gaikwad, the CSK star.
In the run-fest, he smashed 204 runs in 6 matches with 3 fifties and carried forward his sublime form in IPL 2021 where he jammed a match-winning partnership with Faf du Plessis for CSK. Notching the Player of the match against the Sunrisers with 75 off 44 deliveries, in phase 1 of IPL 2021 he aggregated 196 runs in 7 matches at a strike rate of almost 130 with two fifties.
Besides, he holds an exceptional record in domestic cricket. In the LIST-A record for Maharashtra, he scored 2681 runs in just 58 innings at an average of 47.87 and strike rate of almost 98 with 7 hundred and 16 fifties. His knock for the ages came for India A when he smashed an unbeaten 187 off just 136 deliveries against Sri Lanka A in Belgaum.
Varun Chakravarthy
Chakravarthy registered his name in selectors minds after his spin magic in the 2020 edition of the IPL when he became the highest wicket-taker for his franchise- Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). His exceptional economy rate- 6.84 coupled with 17 wickets in 13 matches saw the emergence of a lethal bowler.
Even his domestic records vouch a lot for his bowling skills. He was the leading wicket-taker for Tamil Nadu in the 2018-19 Vijay Hazare Trophy where he bagged 22 wickets in just 9 matches. His wristy spin is home to various spin variations.
Chetan Sakariya
The young speedster of Rajasthan Royals (RR) has a phenomenal start to his career in IPL 2021 when he returned with 3-31 in his 4 overs against the Punjab Kings in Chennai. The master with of agile swing, Sakariya first glared up when he picked 18 wickets for Saurashtra in the Cooch Behar Trophy in 2015, following which he got a fortunate chance to train under Glenn McGrath at the MRF Pace Foundation.
Emerging strong in the 2021 Syed Mushtaq Ali Tournament, he scalped 12 wickets in 5 matches at a stunning economy rate of 4.9. In fact his speciality of rattling wickets has lent him fame in his domestic T20 career where he bagged 35 wickets in 23 matches at a strike rate of 14.8. He has also been very restrictive conceding at just 7.44 runs per over.
Krishnappa Gowtham
Gowtham became the talk of the town when he was purchased by CSK for a massive sum of INR 9.25 ahead of IPL 2021. He has an economy rate of 4.73 in List A cricket and 7.6 in T20 cricket. Additionally, Gowtham’s has a stunning strike rate of 141.26 in List A cricket and 159.24 in T20 cricket. He has also picked 166 first-class wickets in 42 matches at an average of 23.98 and strike rate of 51.9.
Gowtham is remembered for his magnificent knock- 134 off just 56 deliveries where he returned 8-15 with the ball for Bellary Tuskers against Shivamogga Lions in the Karnataka Premier League (KPL).
Nitish Rana
Rana has long been featuring for KKR in IPL seasons. Just in phase 1 of the IPL, Rana’s willow invited him Player of the Match in KKR’s opening match against SRH in Chennai. He smashed consecutive fifties for KKR in their campaign. The fast striker of the ball, the left-hander has scored more than 300 runs every season between 2017-2020.
Rana shone brightly when he aggregated 557 runs in 12 innings at an average of 50.63 when he played for Delhi in 2015-16. Besides, his red-hot form in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021 can’t be overlooked where he hammered 183 runs in 5 innings at a strike rate of almost 165.
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