IPL 2018: 4 under 23 players who made the biggest impact

The IPL has promoted young talents and given them a platform to shine, and every IPL has had new players put their hands up and perform. The key to winning IPL is young players gelling with the team. Teams showed trust and picked up these players and they have not disappointed.

These players have performed exceptionally well, above the team's expectation. They have risen up to every challenge which has been thrown at them.

Here are four young players under the age of 23 who have been the stars in this IPL.

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#4 Mayank Markande (20 years)

Mayank Markande has been quite a revelation in IPL 2018. Fans amazed when they saw him as the lead spinner in the opening game of the IPL 2018 between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings.

The first of the three wickets he picked on IPL debut was Ambati Rayudu, and he later dismissed MS Dhoni, and ended with figures of 3/23. In his second match of the season against the Sunrisers Hyderabad, he returned with his best figures of 4/23. In 14 matches, Markande picked 15 wickets, with an economy rate of 8.36.

His form in the second half of the season was not as good as his form in the first half. Nevertheless, Markande played a crucial role in the Mumbai Indians bowling line-up and was their find of the IPL.

#3 Mujeeb ur Rahman (17 years)

Mujeeb ur Rahman was picked up by the Kings XI Punjab for Rs. 4 crores, and Afghanistan leg-spinner became the youngest debutant in the IPL at 17 years. His impact during the IPL with the ball for the Kings XI Punjab was great.

The teenager's googly was very effective throughout the IPL and bamboozled even the best in the business, Virat Kohli, once. He picked 14 wickets from 11 games in the IPL at an economy of just 7, with best figures of 3/27 against the Rajasthan Royals.

In a match between CSK and KXIP, Dhoni described him as the decisive factor in turning the game in KXIP's favour. In the last part of league stage, when Mujeeb got injured, the Kings XI Punjab did not win a single game and missed out on IPL playoffs.

#2 Rishabh Pant (20 years)

Rishab Pant, in his third IPL, impressed once again. With an abundance of talent, the young left-hander scored 684 runs in this IPL at an average of 52 and at a strike rate of 173.

He is the only player to hit 100 boundaries in this IPL, including 68 fours and 37 sixes. He also scored an IPL century this year against the formidable bowling line-up of Sunrisers Hyderabad.

His highest score of 128 against the SRH was also the highest score in a losing cause in IPL history. He has shown great ability to reverse sweep the ball for sixes. These performances will help him to make a comeback in the Indian team.

#1 Rashid Khan (19 years)

Rashid Khan, who was retained for Rs. 9 crores using the RTM, has had a second successful season. This season too, batsmen were unable to pick his googlies and he got big scalps of the likes of Dhoni, Kohli and De Villiers. He picked 21 wickets from 17 games at an average of 21 and economy rate of 6.74.

He is the lead spinner in the strong bowling attack of the Sunrisers Hyderabad. Looking back, the Sunrisers will feel that their decision to spend a huge sum of money on Rashid paid off.

His best performance in the IPL was against the Kolkata Knight Riders where he played a cameo of 34 off 10 balls and returned with 3/19 from 4 overs. Rashid's spells have been crucial when the Sunrisers have defended low totals. For a 19-year-old the success he has achieved in the IPL has been phenomenal.