5 youngsters who can be the future superstars of Indian cricket

Indian cricket has never been devoid of talent and keeps on churning out one gem after another time after time. In the past, India had Kapil Dev who was then one of the best all-rounders in the world of cricket and in Sunil Gavaskar, India had one of the best batsmen that the cricket has to offer.

Despite not being a dominating team, India produced a famous quartet known as 'Fab 4' comprising of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, and VVS Laxman apart from other great cricketers like MS Dhoni, Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan, and Virender Sehwag among others.

Now, this current lot of players now have taken Indian cricket to new heights which were only dreamt before. India has won a Test Series down under for the first time ever mainly due to the contribution of present-day star players like Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Jasprit Bumrah,Mohammed Shami among many others.

As time passes by, Indian cricket keeps churning out players who have the capability to replace the old stars. In this regard, we will see the current crop of youngsters who have the potential to be superstars of Indian cricket.

#5 Kamlesh Nagarkoti

Kamlesh Nagarkoti was part of India's ICC Under-19 World Cup winning squad 2018 where he emerged as one breakout star of the tournament along with Shubhman Gill and Prithvi Shaw. In the 2018 ICC Under-19 World Cup, he had taken nine wickets from 6 games often clocking more than 140 Kmph.

His pace and accuracy impressed each and everyone across the cricketing fraternity. He was set to play IPL 2018 but an unfortunate injury forced him to be out of the entire tournament where he was picked by the Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2018 IPL auctions.

Kamlesh Nagarkoti doesn't have much experience in the domestic circuit so far having played only 8 List A games but is surely one for the future. With the emergence of pacers like him and a sudden burst of fast bowlers in the country, Indian bowling attack is in safe hands.

#4 Shreyas Iyer

Shreyas Iyer has been in and around the fringes of the Indian cricket team but he is still only 24 years and still has a lot left in him. He is seen as a future captaincy candidate as evident from the fact he has already lead the Delhi Capitals in the last year's IPL and looks set to do the same this season too.

Shreyas Iyer is one of the youngsters who has the capability to play in all conditions across all formats. In the limited chances he got till now at the highest stage, he hasn't done anything bad either in those. But he has been unlucky not to have represented India in more matches than he has till now.

Shreyas has a career average of over 51 in 53 first class games scoring over 4000 runs and with age on his side and selectors looking youngsters, he will definitely be given a long rope in the future sooner rather than later.

#3 Shubman Gill

Shubman Gill was one of the star performers for the successful Indian Under-19 World Cup team which won the tournament in 2018. He was rightfully awarded the Man of the Series for his consistent performances with the bat.

In the IPL 2018, he played some crucial innings for the Dinesh Karthik-led Kolkata Knight Riders where he helped the team winning a few matches on his own with fine knocks in a packed top order.

His best moment yet came when he was selected for the national team after getting his maiden call up to the side at the expense of now suspended KL Rahul but one would think he may not get his chance right away as the top-order of India is one of the best, if not the best in the world.

Shubman Gill is still a teenager but will be an absolute superstar and one to watch out for in the future as that is evident from the fact he helped in nearly chasing down a record target set by Hyderabad in Ranji Trophy.

In his short career, he has shown thrust for scoring big runs and has over 1000 first-class runs in just 9 games at an outstanding average of 77.

#2 Prithvi Shaw

Prithvi Shaw has been long touted as the next big thing that has happened to India and he just proved the same when he delighted everyone with his maiden century on debut although against a mediocre West Indies bowling attack and that too in the home conditions.

He is yet to be tested in overseas conditions at least wearing national colors as he has already played many A tours in the past. With due to an unfortunate ankle injury he sustained in a practice match before the Test series against Australia, Prithvi's chances of adding to the 2 Tests he played is a little postponed.

But it is sure that he will be a long-term prospect for India and one the team can invest on. His first-class record is extraordinary as he averages more than 60 in 18 matches with 8 centuries.

Just like Shubman Gill and Kamlesh Nagarkoti, he was a major factor in India's triumph in the 2018 Under-19 World Cup where he captained the team. He looks all set to carry the legacy forward.

#1 Rishabh Pant

When you look at this list, you might be probably looking at the top order of the Delhi Capitals team. Rishabh Pant has done everything that one could ask for in his limited career so far as far as the Test format (where he averages 49 in 9 matches) is concerned whereas, he hasn't made much impact in ODI or T20I till now.

He is being rated highly by many of the legends, most notably Ricky Ponting has hailed Pant as "another Adam Gilchrist" which is such a huge compliment that too in the early part of his career.

With MS Dhoni likely to hang his boots after the World Cup, Rishabh is a leading candidate at the moment to take over the gloves in all the formats when the former does decide to call on his career. His keeping needs to improve but that will happen as time goes on.

He has already hit 2 overseas tons (one each in England and Australia) to his in a short career and we can hope that he adds to that tally. Pant is all to create a niche for himself and will be a huge name in the game of cricket.

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