Bhubaneswar: The cash-rich Indian Premier league is all set to begin from tomorrow at Wankhade Stadium in Mumbai with the opening clash of the 11th season to be played between defending champions Mumbai Indians and comeback team Chennai Super Kings.
IPL has always provided a platform for young and budding cricketers of India and foreign countries to showcase their talent. Players like Virat Kohli, Sanju Samson, Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan and many more have gone on to do well in the top-most league.
The current Indian skipper Virat Kohli was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore in the year 2008 after he won the Under19 cricket World Cup in Malaysia.
India won the ICC Under19 World Cup held in New Zealand earlier this year under the captaincy of Prithvi Shaw and many cricketers in that team have been bought by the IPL franchisees. Here's the complete list of all the Indian Under19 players included in various IPL teams for the upcoming season.
1) Prithvi Shaw (Delhi Daredevils)
The Mumbai batsman has been performing well since his debut in Under19 cricket and is a consistent run scorer for Mumbai in Indian domestic cricket. Under his able captaincy, Team India won the Under19 world cup this year. In this year's U-19 cricket World Cup, he scored 261 runs in six games at an average of 65. He was picked up by Delhi Daredevils for a whopping Rs 1.2 crore during the auction.
2) Shubman Gill (Kolkata Knight Riders)
Player of the Tournament in the Under19 cricket World Cup, Shubman Gill has been included in Shahrukh Khan's Kolkata Knight Riders. The youngster from Punjab scored an unbeaten hundred against Pakistan in the semi-final battle of the world cup and ensured a final ticket for the Indian side. KKR will have his services in the batting department and he is expected to be a show stealer among all the Indian players.
3) Anukul Roy (Mumbai Indians)
Slow left-armer Anukul Roy was the pick of the spinners in the Indian Under19 side and he consistently bowled well in the tourney. The Sareikela-born cricketer is another shining name from the state of former Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He was bought at his base price of Rs 20 lakhs. Anukul picked up 14 wickets from six matches in the U-19 World Cup for the Indian side with the best figures of 5/14 against PNG. He has that capability of being a decent batsman lower down the order and can get some quick runs in the death overs as well.
4) Shivam Mavi (Kolkata Knight Riders)
Shivam Mavi plays as a fast bowling all-rounder and is from Meerut in Uttar Pradesh just like India internationals Praveen Kumar and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He impressed one and all with his pace of around 145 kmph and deadly yorkers troubling the opposition batsmen throughout the Under19 cricket World Cup. Mavi picked up nine wickets in the U-19 cricket World Cup and was taken away by the Kolkata-based franchise for Rs 3 crore. Mavi has impressed so far with his bowling but on the other hand he can be a good choice as a batsman lower down the order.
5) Manjot Kalra (Delhi Daredevils)
The Delhi youngster became a household name after his unbeaten century in the Under19 World Cup final against a strong Australian unit. He was bought by the franchise from his hometown Delhi at Rs 20 lakhs. The left-handed opener has a stance quite similar to that of Indian middle-order batsman Yuvraj Singh and this 19-year old Delhi youngster is certainly a player to watch out for in this season.
6) Kamlesh Nagarkoti (Kolkata Knight Riders)
The 18-year old pacer from Barmer, Rajasthan claimed nine wickets in the Under19 cricket World Cup earlier this year. Bought by Kolkata Knight Riders, the pacer has a knack of picking up early wickets in an innings and clocks very good pace of more than 140 kmph. He has a fantastic record in List-A cricket for Rajasthan as well. Apart from becoming the first bowler from Rajasthan to pick up a hat-trick in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, he also scored a crucial fifty to rescue his team from troubled waters in one of the games in the tournament.