The players to watch out for in IPL 2023

The players to watch out for in IPL 2023

MUMBAI INDIANS:
Jofra Archer: The England paceman made a strong return from injury with performances that he is known for, first in the South Africa T20 league and then for England in the T20Is and ODIs against South Africa and Bangladesh. His pace is something that Mumbai Indians will bank on. He has prior experience of playing for Rajasthan Royals before MI acquired him for Rs 8 crore in the February 2022 auction.

Cameron Green: The second most expensive player ever in IPL auction history, with MI acquiring him for Rs 17.50 crore, the tall Australian showed a taste for Indian conditions during the recent series, scoring his maiden Test century. A handy medium-pacer and one who can hit the ball long and hard, Green should continue from where the top-order has left off and give his team safe totals to defend or meet the target as the case may be.

KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS:

Rinku Singh: The Uttar Pradesh left-handed batsman showed he could score at a brisk pace and act as a finisher in IPL 2022. An unbeaten 42 in 23 balls at No. 5 saw KKR beat Rajasthan Royals in a tense finish while another 40 in 15 balls against Lucknow Super Giants almost saw his team through. He is a livewire on the field and has taken some outstanding catches. There is no reason why he cannot repeat similar performances for KKR this year too.

Tim Southee: Swing being his forte, the New Zealander is the highest wicket-taker in T20Is with 134 scalps. An all-format bowler, Southee cannot be taken lightly, be it with the new ball or in the end overs. He can be an ideal foil for Sunil Narine, Andre Russell and Shardul Thakur to check the flow of runs. He has the knack of taking wickets, with swing in the initial overs and later inviting batsmen to go for shots and give catches in the deep.
RAJASTHAN ROYALS:

Yashasvi Jaiswal: The talented and matured left-handed opener from Mumbai has already made a mark in IPL and in the domestic season, was consistent in all the competitions, whether it was the Ranji Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy, Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy or Irani Cup. He forms an ideal partnership with captain Jos Buttler at the top and consistent performances from this year’s IPL could place him in the reckoning for bigger outings.
Yuzvendra Chahal: T20 and Chahal are made for each other. The highest wicket-taker in last year’s IPL with 27 wickets, Chahal is the man to go to when RR needs breakthroughs in the middle overs. He has often delivered and is not without reason India’s highest wicket-taker in T20Is (91). He is one short of 300 wickets in all T20s and will hold the key to RR’s success in the bowling department. Chahal from one end and veteran off-spinner R Ashwin from the other provide a mouth-watering prospect in this IPL.DELHI CAPITALS:

Sarfaraz Khan: Knocking on the doors of the national team for quite some time, the 25-year-old middle-order batsman has been scoring heavily in the domestic circuit season after season. A hairline fracture on his finger kept him out of the Rest of India squad recently for the Irani Cup. He has been cleared as fit and is the best bet to replace Rishabh Pant for the kind of impact he can create. Having been in the IPL for eight years, Khan has not been consistent. He was sent up and down the order and was looked at as a finisher. A fixed slot in the top order would give him the time to play his unorthodox shots and accelerate the scoring. When he gets going, he can be as dangerous as any.

Chetan Sakariya: When he burst into the scene a couple of years ago, the Saurashtra left-arm medium-pacer showed a lot of promise. He even made his T20I and ODI debut but has not progressed beyond three international appearances. With the Indian team looking for good left-arm pacers who could serve the country in the long run, Sakariya could be a contender. He needs to have a good IPL and be consistent. Having travelled with the Indian team to Australia for the T20 World Cup as a net bowler would have made him a better bowler.

LUCKNOW SUPER GIANTS:

Quinton de Kock: The South African left-handed opening batsman will walk into this year’s IPL with his maiden T20I hundred scored as recently as Sunday in a high-scoring game against the West Indies. De Kock laid the foundation for SA’s successful chase of the 259-run target, the match posting a new world record for the highest match aggregate (517). De Kock is not new to Indian conditions, having shown his liking for the pitches here when touring with his national team. De Kock holds one of the keys to LSG’s fortunes this IPL.

Ravi Bishnoi: It is a pity that the young leg-spinner who was the best bowler in India’s defeat at the hands of Pakistan in the Super Four stage of the Asia Cup (1 for 26 in four overs) did not play in another international. In the 10 T20Is that he played last year, he picked up 16 wickets and foxed the opposition with his variations, mixing the googlies and catching the batsmen off-guard. These qualities in IPL helped him fetch 37 wickets in as many matches at an economy rate of 7.53, which is not bad for T20s. A safe catcher off his own bowling, Bishnoi has held some outstanding catches in the outfield. Keep an eye on him this year too.

CHENNAI SUPER KINGS

Ben Stokes: The England all-rounder is a cricketer of a very rare breed and needs to be preserved. His ability to rise to the occasion in big matches is what made the IPL franchises be involved in a war to acquire him in the auction last December. That CSK shelled out Rs 16.25 crore shows how important he is to the team’s scheme of things. Stokes’ ability to change the course of the game with a few big hits or getting vital breakthroughs will be keenly followed in this IPL.

Maheesh Theekshana: The Sri Lankan mystery spinner announced his arrival in IPL last year by taking 12 wickets in nine matches. He has been Sri Lanka’s potent T20 bowler alongside their leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga. With star left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja, Theekshana can spin a web around the opposition batsmen. He is unafraid to bowl in the Power Play and checks the run flow in the middle overs.

SUNRISERS HYDERABAD

Harry Brook: The Englishman made a mark at No. 5 in T20Is, striking at more than 140.97 runs per 100 deliveries. However, it was his remarkable consistency in Test cricket that has made the world sit up and take notice. He has seven scores of 50-plus including four hundreds in 10 Test innings to have an astonishing average of 80.90. That he was acquired for Rs 13.25 crore to be the second most expensive player in SRH history after Kane Williamson (Rs 14 crore) came as no surprise. Watch out for the 24-year-old Yorkshireman in his debut IPL season.

Adil Rashid: The leg-spinner is one of the most experienced T20 players in the world, certainly England’s most successful spinner in T20Is. Acquired for Rs 2 crore, Rashid’s experience will do wonders in SRH’s fortunes. Along with the likes of the experienced Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the dependable Washington Sundar and the fiery Umran Malik, the Englishman is expected to carry the burden of SRH’s bowling to the optimum in this IPL. And he can bat too.

GUJARAT TITANS

Shubman Gill: The right-handed opening batsman played a crucial role in last year’s triumph, accumulating 483 runs at 34.50 and a strike rate of 132.32. He has only grown in stature, scoring a century in each of the three formats for the country since the last IPL. With the kind of form that he is in, the 23-year-old will be in the running for the Orange Cap, and winning it will come as no surprise.

Rashid Khan: The leg-spinner from Afghanistan is only 24 but it seems like he has been around for ages, having played in 391 T20s worldwide and taken 528 wickets to be the second most successful bowler behind Dwayne Bravo (615 sticks in 558 T20s). The wily bowler is placed second in the ICC T20I bowler ICC rankings, and is the third highest wicket-taker in T20Is with 129 scalps. Add the fact that he can whack the ball hard, and Rashid is one the opposition will be wary of.

ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE

Virat Kohli: Can you look beyond Kohli when you have him in the team? One of the very few who has stayed loyal to an IPL franchise, having stayed with RCB right from the inaugural year, Kohli is in a different league, a good headspace as he calls it, in the last year or so since relinquishing captaincy. He broke the jinx of a long-due international hundred by scoring five in the last six months including a maiden T20I hundred. Whether he can power RCB to their first IPL title is anyone’s guess. But one thing is for sure, Kohli will be making his earnest attempt with consistent big scores. Like he has been doing all these years.

Wanindu Hasaranga: The Sri Lankan leg-spinner was a contender for the Purple Cap last year, falling one wicket short of the eventual winner, Yuzvendra Chahal. With 26 wickets at an economy rate of 7.54, Hasaranga bore the burden of RCB bowling on his shoulders admirably. It is not for nothing that he is the No. 1 ranked T20I bowler in the ICC rankings. What Kohli is for batting, Hasaranga is for bowling in the RCB ranks. If only he can use his full batting potential and score consistently, RCB will get those extra runs that have made the difference between them winning and losing over the years!

PUNJAB KINGS

Shikhar Dhawan: The left-handed opener has been around since the first IPL, turning up for five franchises. Along with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, the 37-year-old Dhawan forms the most experienced Indian trio of T20 players with 318 appearances. He topped PBKS’ batting charts last year with 460 runs at an average of 38.33. He may have now fallen out of favour with Indian selectors, but Dhawan has the experience of leading India to victories in white ball cricket as a stand-in captain. All his experience will count in this year’s IPL if PBKS are to make a contest and not just make up the numbers.

Arshdeep Singh: He was India’s best T20 bowler last year and secured the Grade C in the central contract list for the October 2022-September 2023 period announced by the BCCI recently (Rs 1 crore). A left-arm quick with yorkers being his strength, Arshdeep will do well to bring down his economy rate around 6.50 or 7 and having control over his toe-crushers, which often end up as full tosses.