IPL 2018: Youngsters who could make an impact this year

IPL has provided a platform for youngsters across the globe to display their talent and make a name for themselves. It also provides these young talents with an opportunity to share the dressing room with legends of the game.

A number of present-day cricket stars have made it into the national team after their impressive performance in IPL. Ravi Ashwin, Glenn Maxwell, Faf Du Plessis, Virat Kohli and a number of other players have all made it to their national team thanks to impressive performances in IPL.

Let's have a look at who could make an impact in this year's IPL.

Kamlesh Nagarkoti

Nagarkoti

has the ability to bowl at 145 km/hr consistently

Kamlesh Nagarkoti was the Indian team's premier fast bowler in the Under-19 World Cup. He has the ability to bowl at 145 km/hr consistently in a disciplined manner, which was on show in the tournament.

The pacer picked eight wickets in six matches in the competition. He took three wickets in the first match against Australia and scalped two wickets in the quarterfinals against Bangladesh.

He impressed one and all with his disciplined bowling in the semifinals where he gave away just seven runs in five overs. He then picked up two wickets in the final against Australia to finish the tournament on a high.

Nagarkoti, who was bought by the Kolkata Knight Riders for a whopping price of Rs 3.2 crore, has been identified by KKR captain Dinesh Karthik as the person who would be leading the team's bowling attack. He is a player for the future and it wouldn't be a surprise if he turns out to be the find of the season.

Dhruv Shorey

Shorey will be playing for CSK this year

Dhruv Shorey is a middle-order batsman and an important player for the Delhi Ranji team. He made his first-class debut in 2015 against Odisha and since then has gone from strength to strength.

Shorey is an important cog of the Delhi team and has performed pretty well for them. He has 1217 runs in 18 First-Class games at a brilliant average of 55. He also had a great Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament this year where he scored 286 runs in six innings at a stunning average of 71 and a brilliant strike-rate of 141.

The Delhi batsman's average in Tests shows his ability to play the waiting game while his impressive strike rate in the T20s is an indication of his ability to play the big shots. He is definitely a player to look out for.

Deepak Chahar

Chahar's accurate bowling will help the Chennai team

Deepak Chahar is a fast bowler who made his debut in IPL 2016 for the Rising Pune Supergiant side under MS Dhoni. He has now been picked by Chennai Super Kings in the 2018 auction.

The Rajasthan bowler has an impressive record in the domestic competitions. He has picked up 113 wickets in 40 First-Class matches with three 5-for and a ten-for to his name. His performance in the shortest format of the game has been even more impressive.

Chahar has had a great Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy this year where he emerged as the tournament's leading wicket-taker. He scalped 19 wickets in 9 matches at a brilliant average of 10 and an economy rate of 10.6

His impeccable accuracy is one trait which makes him extremely successful in the shortest format of the game and is definitely a player to watch out for in this year's IPL.

Shubman Gill

Gill's innings against Pakistan team was extra special

Shubman Gill is an Indian middle-order batsman who was in red-hot form in the Under-19 World Cup this year. He displayed enormous potential in the tournament and it would be only fair to call him the find of U-19 WC.

The Punjab boy scored 372 runs in five matches at a phenomenal average of 124. Gill's performances in the tournament were noticed by a number of IPL sides and he was picked up by Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2018 Auction for a huge price of Rs 1.8 crore.

Gill has the ability to play both the aggressive game as well as the waiting game. He is a bright prospect for the Indian team and it would be interesting to see how he performs in the IPL this year.

Washington Sundar

Sundar's batting abilities are still not known to many

The 19-year-old from Tamil Nadu came into limelight when he became a part of the Indian Under-19 team for 2016 World Cup. He didn't have a great tournament but his real potential was seen in the domestic competitions next year.

Sundar has played in 12 First Class matches for Tamil Nadu, scalping 30 wickets at an average of 27. He picked up 8 wickets in 11 matches for his IPL side Rising Pune Supergiant at an average of 23 in 2017.

The real brilliance of Sundar was on display in 2017 TNPL where he amassed 459 runs in 9 matches at a humongous average of 76 and a strike rate of 155 and picked up 15 wickets in 9 matches at an average of 12 and an economy of 6.1.

Sundar also played a match-winning role in Duleep Trophy for his India Red team, picking up 11 wickets and scoring 130 runs in a match against India Blue. The youngster also scored a century in the Tamil Nadu vs Tripura Ranji match when he was given a chance to open the batting.

Sundar was finally given a long run in the Nidahas trophy and he has performed brilliantly for the team. He has bamboozled the Srilankan and Bangladeshi batsmen with his clever bowling.

Sundar is on a splendid run and has performed exceedingly well at such a young age. This young lad has years of cricket ahead of him and is a prodigy who may well turn out to be the 'Emerging Player' of this year's IPL.