5 promising players who could not make their debut in 2018

The year is about to come to an end. It was a year full of expectations and achievements, not only for the teams but for the players as well. The main attraction of the year was India’s foreign tours to South Africa, England, and Australia.

But many other important events also came up during this year. These mainly included Emerging Players' Tournament and Under 19 World Cup. There were many young players who emerged out of them.

Many of these promising talents, including Prithvi Shaw and Hanuma Vihari, made their debut and repaid the faith shown on them. However, there were quite a few unlucky players as well who had shown immense promise but unfortunately were not handed their maiden Test cap.

These were the talents, who promise to have a successful career, but were unlucky this year to not have made their international debut. Let us take a look at a few of those unfortunate ones:

#5 Mayank Markande

Mayank Markande troubled everyone through his googlies and classic leg spin bowling.

The 21-year-old Mayank Markande was the find of the IPL 2018. He was bought for a mere 20 lakhs but made his presence felt on the debut against Chennai Super Kings when he dismissed Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Ambati Rayudu and Deepak Chahar.

He continued his good performances throughout the season. He claimed 15 wickets in 14 matches and was the go-to-man for Rohit Sharma. His variations, which mainly include googlies and classic leg spin bowling troubled most of the batsmen.

He was also fantastic in the List A tournament as well as Emerging Players Asia Cup. He is yet to make debut for even India-A, but the immense promise shown by him this year, promises to bring an exciting and happy future for him.

#4 Nitish Rana

IPL turned Nitish's faded career in a successful one.

Nitish Rana was a find of the 2017 IPL season. He had shot into fame after scoring 333 runs in 13 matches for Mumbai Indians, which helped them win the title.

He scored out 613 runs in 8 games in the Ranji season that followed later that year. He was snapped up by Kolkata Knight Riders for the 2018 IPL season for a huge sum of 3.4 crores. He totally justified the price by scoring 304 runs in 15 matches that he played. He was also named as the captain of the Delhi Ranji team in November 2018, after Gautam Gambhir’s retirement.

He was retained by Kolkata Knight Riders for 2019 season. A career which would have faded very soon has definitely become a nice one for the 24-year-old left-hander. He will hope that his dream to play for the Indian national team is fulfilled next year.

#3 Prasidh Krishna

Prasidh Krishna's fortunes took a turn for the better after

Nagarkoti's

injury

If Kamlesh Nagarkoti’s injury bought bad luck for him, then it was Prasidh Krishna whose fortunes rose because of that. He never looked back after that and made his way to the stardom.

He was called as a replacement for Kamlesh Nagarkoti after getting unsold in the auctions. But the 22-year-old right arm bowler Prasidh Krishna grabbed 10 wickets in 7 matches and was a consistent performer for Kolkata Knight Riders during the death overs. His best performance came against Sunrisers Hyderabad when he grabbed 4 wickets for 30 runs.

He was a consistent performer in Vijay Hazare Trophy as well as Emerging Players Asia Cup. In Vijay Hazare trophy, he was the second best bowler, and he finished with the 17 wickets in 8 matches. That included a match-winning spell of 3 wickets against Saurashtra in the final.

#2 Kamlesh Nagarkoti

Bowling at a speed of 145+, Kamlesh not only surprised, surprised opposition but the selectors as well

With constant bowling at the speeds of 145+, Kamlesh not only surprised his opposition teammates in Under-19 world cup but grabbed the attention of the senior team selectors as well.

He grabbed 9 wickets in 6 matches in the Under-19 world cup. This got him an IPL contract with Kolkata Knight Riders, who bought him at a huge sum of Rs 3.2 crores.

But the fortune did not allow a smooth ride for him. He was pulled out of the tournament with a foot injury. He made a comeback later in the year.

He made his debut for Rajasthan in List-A cricket. He again shot into the fame by claiming a hat-trick against Gujarat. He was retained by Kolkata Knight Riders for IPL 2019 as well, which showed the trust of the franchise on him even after he did not play for them.

His injuries prevented him to make a debut for India this year but he will be hoping to change that next year.

#1 Shubman Gill

Shubman was a consistent performer in IPL as well as Under-19 World Cup.

Regarded as the next Virat Kohli, Shubman has got some of the most beautiful cricketing strokes.

He was a find of the Under-19 World Cup held this year in Australia. The 19-year-old right-hander was fantastic at the number 3 spot. He had 418 runs at an average of almost 104. Due to his fantastic performances, he was declared the man of the tournament. This got him an IPL contract with Kolkata Knight Riders, for 1.8 crores.

In the IPL as well, he showed maturity beyond his age. He was constantly made to bat at number 6 or 7, but he contributed consistently. Due to this, he was retained by the franchise for the next season as well.

But his talent could not earn him his maiden international cap this year.