Indian players with a point to prove in each team during the IPL 2018

There are just a few days left for the most popular cricket league in the world to enter its second decade.

The eleventh season of the Indian Premier League is all set to kick off with Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals back in the fold after serving their two-year bans.

This IPL auctions in January has set the tone for what promises to be another riveting season this summer.

The IPL has been the perfect platform for young, national team hopefuls and the Indian discards to show off their potential.

The long format has provided them with ample opportunities to make a case for national team selection.

This edition will be no different as the fringe players will look to come up with strong performances that catch the eye of the national selectors.

Here are the Indian players from each team with a point to prove to the national selectors:

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#1 Kolkata Knight Riders

Kamlesh Nagarkoti

India's next speed merchant?

Nagarkoti looks like he was born to bowl fast. The 18-year old is one of India's promising fast bowlers.

The athletic bowler, who thrilled fans and pundits at the U-19 World Cup this year, regularly clocked speeds in excess of 140 kmph and even went close to 150 kmph.

It's just a lovely sight watching this guy run up to the crease! Kolkata Knight Riders noticed the talent in him and decided to part with Rs. 3.2 crore for his services.

What's more, he is an electric fielder and a handy batsman too. Good performances against some of the established stars of international cricket might see his name added to the exciting crop of young fast bowlers knocking on the doors of the playing XI.

#2 Delhi Daredevils

Rishabh Pant

The dynamic batsman has slipped down the pecking order

The man who caught everyone's eyes at the U-19 World Cup in 216 with his belligerent strokeplay has been earmarked as Dhoni's heir to the wicket-keeping gloves.

He justified that with a mind-boggling season in the 2016-17 Ranji Trophy and impressive performances in IPL 2017.

This influenced the Delhi Daredevils management into retaining him before the player auctions this season.

The Delhi wicket-keeper batsman has had a rocky time off-late as he had a dismal season after being appointed the captain of the Delhi Ranji team.

He failed to grab his chances in the recently concluded Nidahas Trophy, and that has seen him fall behind Dinesh Karthik in the pecking order.

A good IPL season is thus essential for him to justify his team's decision and also to put himself back into national team reckoning.

#3 Kings XI Punjab

Ravichandran Ashwin

Ashwin will be leading the Kings XI Punjab side

Having played under MS Dhoni throughout his IPL career with CSK and then Rising Pune Supergiant, the Chennai based franchise let go off Ashwin this time around.

Kings XI Punjab went into the auction looking for an inspirational skipper to lead the side and the management felt the experienced off-spinner fits the bill perfectly.

Ashwin will lead the side and has already made a statement that he will be as unpredictable as possible as a captain and that his moves will be difficult to predict.

India's No.1 test spinner has found himself out of the limited-overs teams since the Champions Trophy final last year, and the explosive performances of Kuldeep Yadav, Chahal and Washington Sundar has pushed him further down the pecking order.

A comeback into the limited overs teams seems unlikely now and Ashwin will look to use this IPL as a platform to make a comeback into the India limited overs teams.

#4 Chennai Super Kings

Suresh Raina

Back in India colors, Raina still has a point to prove to get back into the ODI side

CSK, on their return to the IPL, have placed their confidence on the established, senior players rather than going for the exuberance of the youth.

Suresh Raina, one of the three players that they retained will have a point to prove, both, to the CSK management and to the Indian selectors.

After being called back into the Indian team after a year in the wilderness, Raina came up with useful cameos without really setting the world alight.

His approach came as a surprise though, as he was going for extravagant shots right from the time he came to the crease.

Being a senior player in this CSK side though, Raina will have to build the innings batting in the middle-order, and such an approach will not help the team's cause.

India's struggle to identify batsmen to fit in at No. 4 and No. 5 has opened up spots that are there for the taking and a good performance this would surely help him get back into the ODI team after over two and half years.

#5 Mumbai Indians

Krunal Pandya

Krunal Pandya was the most expensive uncapped player

The elder of the Pandya brothers didn't come cheap in the auctions this year as teams knew that Mumbai Indians would surely use their RTM card to retain him.

He was bought for Rs 8.8 crore, ending up as the most expensive uncapped player.

Krunal Pandya, has performed admirably for Mumbai Indians over the past two seasons and in fact, had even outperformed his brother, who is in the Indian team.

The Man of the Match of last year's final is a crucial component in the lower middle-order as he lends firepower to the batting and chips in with handy overs in the middle overs.

Mumbai Indians will be worried about Krunal's form though, as he doesn't have a good domestic season behind him.

However, the management and fans will hope that wearing the Mumbai blue jersey will get him going again.

#6 Rajasthan Royals

Jaydev Unadkat

Unadkat was the most expensive Indian player in the auctions

Prior to the auctions, few would have expected Unadkat to be the costliest player in the auction despite the fabulous season he had with Rising Pune Supergiant last year.

However, an intense bidding war for the left-arm pacer meant that he ended up as the most expensive player bought at the auction with Rajasthan Royals securing his services for Rs 11.5 crore.

Underwhelming performances in the Nidahas Trophy, only adds to the pressure that this man will be under to justify his hefty price-tag.

With Rajasthan Royals lacking experienced bowlers in the lineup, Unadkat will be Steve Smith's go-to bowler at all the important moments of the game.

#7 Royal Challengers Bangalore

Washington Sundar

Sundar had a wonderful campaign in the Nidahas Trophy

Washington Sundar has the world at his feet, and remarkably he's just 18 years old. Signed by Rising Pune Supergiant as a like-for-like replacement for Ashwin last year, the off-spinner showed incredible composure by bowling with the new ball in the powerplay overs.

He was the find of the IPL 2017 and the remarkable temperament that he displayed was there to see.

He quickly made his way into the Indian T20 team and in a second-string Indian side that took on Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the Nidahas Trophy, Sundar grabbed the attention of the world by bagging the 'Player of the Series' trophy.

He has made a name for himself by bowling miserly spells by opening the bowling.

With the limited overs formats being dominated by wrist-spinners across the world, it is quite fascinating to see a teenage finger-spinner take up massive responsibility on his young shoulders and come up trumps.

#8 Sunrisers Hyderabad

Manish Pandey

Manish Pandey will have to anchor the Sunrisers Hyderabad's middle-order

The first Indian player to score an IPL century, Manish Pandey, has been around for a long time.

He has been the backbone of the Kolkata Knight Riders' middle-order and that led to Sunrisers Hyderabad paying an astounding Rs 11 crore to finally grab hold of him.

He will have a massive fee to justify and the responsibility of anchoring the middle-order yet again, as Sunrisers Hyderabad lack the quality in the lower-middle order.

He has been in and out of the Indian ODI team as he has failed to capitalise on the opportunities presented to him.

He will have to be amongst the top run scorers this season to keep himself ahead in the race for the crucial No. 4 and No. 5 slots in the Indian team, a year ahead of the World Cup.