IPL 2022: 5 under-25 players to watch out for this season

IPL 2022 is slated to start on March 26. This season will see 10 teams fight it out for the coveted trophy. Plenty of money was splurged at the IPL mega auction earlier this year and now it will be interesting to see how different teams fare this season.

The slogan of the IPL reads, 'Where Talent meets Opportunity' and this is a platform where a number of young cricketers get the chance to rub shoulders with the superstars of the game. Over the years, the IPL has been a great stage for young players to prove their mettle and has been a decisive step in their careers.

In this article, we take a look at 5 under-25 players to watch out for in the IPL:

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5.) N Tilak Varma

Tilak Varma will be backed by Mumbai Indians

Mumbai Indians spent INR 1.7 crore on N Tilak Varma, one of India's stars at the under-19 World Cup that took place in South Africa earlier this year. He is a left-handed batter who bowls right-arm off-spin and is a constant fixture for Hyderabad in Indian domestic cricket.

He has played just one first-class game, scoring 39 runs against Andhra Pradesh. Apart from this, he has also featured in 16 List-A games where he has scored 784 runs and picked up five wickets. His highest score is 156*and has so far scored three centuries and three half-centuries in List A with an average of 52.26.

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4.) Umran Malik

Umran Malik needs to justify his potential

Ahead of the mega auction, Sunrisers Hyderabad retained Umran Malik as they saw a lot of potential in the young quick. The right-arm pacer was impressive in the few matches he played last season and consistently clocked speeds of around 150 km/h.

He was quickly roped into the India A squad that toured South Africa late last year. This IPL, he needs to stand up and justify his potential. He has played eight T20s so far in his career where he has picked up 11 wickets at an average of 24.81.

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3.) Arshdeep Singh

Arshdeep Singh was retained by Punjab Kings

Much like Umran Malik, young left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh was the second player to be retained by Punjab Kings after captain Mayank Agarwal. Despite Punjab's mediocre campaign, Arshdeep was the standout bowler for the side.

As far as his numbers are concerned, he has so far bowled 76.1 overs in the IPL and picked up 30 wickets with a bowling average of 22.30. Arshdeep was a part of India's Under-19 squad that won the World Cup in 2018.

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2.) Anuj Rawat

Anuj Rawat can expect a long rope from RCB

Uncapped wicketkeeper Anuj Rawat was one of the surprise picks at the auction when he was snapped up by Royal Challengers Bangalore for ₹3.4 crore. He came into the auction at a base price of ₹20 lakh.

The left-handed batter made his first-class debut for Delhi against Assam. In his first match, he scored 71 off 147 balls with seven fours and one six in that match. Overall in FC cricket, he has scored 954 runs at 30.77. In the Vijay Hazare Trophy, he has scored 573 runs at an average of 44.07.

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1.) Ravi Bishnoi

A lot of focus will be on Ravi Bishnoi

The young leg-spinner has made quite a name for himself in his short career so far. He was snapped up by the Lucknow Super Giants ahead of the mega auction. Bishnoi was very impressive for the Punjab Kings in the limited opportunities he got and has since gone on to make his India debut as well.

He took 12 wickets in 14 matches in his first season for Punjab and then followed it up with 12 wickets from nine matches in the next. His economy rate in the IPL is an impressive 6.95.

In his debut match for India, Bishnoi picked up figures of 2 wickets for 17 runs and joined an elite list of Indian bowlers to have picked up two or more wickets on their debut in T20Is.