IPL 2020: Brian Lara and Ashish Nehra pick the lesser-known Indian players who have impressed them the most

Former West Indian batsman Brian Lara and former Indian fast bowler Ashish Nehra recently picked the Indian youngsters who have impressed them the most in IPL 2020.

Lara and Nehra carried out this exercise during an interaction on Star Sports' show Cricket Connected.

The Caribbean great took T Natarajan's name, and reasoned that the Sunrisers Hyderabad pacer has shown the ability to bowl the yorker consistently at the death.

"I really enjoyed Natarajan bowling at the death for SRH. I thought he did a tremendous job, got everything right. That is the traditional way of doing things, back in the day when I played you get the yorker in."

Lara observed that the left-arm pacer has managed to nail the yorker almost every time, which is something that was a forte of greats like Joel Garner and Curtly Ambrose.

"You got Joel Garner, Ambrose, all these fast bowlers in the past, they used to try to take your toes off and I felt he is the one bowler so far who has got it really really right."

From tennis ball yorkers to high-pressure yorkers in the IPL, T Natarajan has come a long way in his career. This is his story 📹 #IPL2020 pic.twitter.com/sZErwbyM65

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) October 2, 2020

The flamboyant batsman named Ravi Bishnoi as another Indian youngster to have impressed him in IPL 2020, with the 20-year-old leg-spinner holding his own against the biggest hitters in the game.

"I also enjoyed watching a 19-year old leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi against all these top-class batsmen. Can you imagine you are nineteen and playing the IPL, you are not playing a four-day game against a touring team but playing against the biggest hitters in the world. I felt he has done pretty well too so far."

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Ashish Nehra's picks of the youngsters who have impressed him in IPL 2020

Ravi Bishnoi has given a good account of himself in IPL 2020 [Image credits: KXIP.in]

Ashish Nehra concurred with Brian Lara that Ravi Bishnoi has stood out for the maturity he has shown in handling the tough situations he has been confronted with.

"Ravi Bishnoi, I am very excited the way he has bowled. Because it is not only about stats when it comes to the IPL, when a young guy shows character it is very heartening to see. When it comes to skills, yes everybody's skills are different but he has shown a big heart while bowling in a tournament like the IPL."

Bishnoi’s LawCurve in the run up ∝ to spin generated 🌀#SaddaPunjab #IPL2020 #KXIP pic.twitter.com/pAhIqkGbr1

— Kings XI Punjab (@lionsdenkxip) October 7, 2020

The former left-arm pacer signed off by naming Shubman Gill and Devdutt Padikkal as two other Indian youngsters who have impressed him with their performances in IPL 2020.

"And at the same time Shubman Gill and Devdutt Padikkal."

T Natarajan has picked up 5 wickets in IPL 2020 so far in the five matches he has played. He has an acceptable economy rate of 8.31, considering that he has bowled quite a few overs at the fag end of the innings with the batsmen looking to target him.

Ravi Bishnoi has managed to scalp 4 wickets in the five matches he has played at a decent economy rate of 7.90. He, along with Mohammed Shami, are the only two bowlers who have held their own in the Kings XI Punjab attack, with the other bowlers having been taken to the cleaners.