Vijay Hazare Trophy 2018: 10 players to watch out for

As the new domestic season dawns upon the face of Indian cricket, it presents itself as a window of opportunity for young talent to stake their claim for a spot in the national squad while on the other side of the coin lie the discards, who will hope to put up impressive performances and find themselves back in national colors.

At the conclusion of the Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand, a lot of new talent was unearthed and the youngsters will yet again fight it out, this time in an inter-state rivalry, the Vijay Hazare Trophy which will be played between February 5th - 26th February 2018.

In light of the upcoming limited-overs series, here are ten players to watch out for.

#10 Shivam Mavi

Shivam Mavi will turn out for Uttar Pradesh

The young seamer, who impressed with his raw pace and ability to generate swing will be featuring in his first ever Vijay Hazare Trophy when he takes to field for Uttar Pradesh with a pocketful of experience from the U19 World Cup.

Mavi, along with Kamlesh Nagarkoti was one of the instrumental factors that led to India's victory in the World Cup. The youngster finished the tournament with 9 wickets to his name and an excellent economy of 4.12 to go with that.

A handy hard-hitting batsman down the order, Mavi's all-round skill could come to good use for Uttar Pradesh right through the competition.

#9 Ishan Porel

Ishan Porel's spell opening burst against Australia was vital

With a crop of dyed hair and a high style quotient, the lanky resembles his senior compatriot Hardik Pandya. The two of them share a similar bowling style as well, albeit Porel shares the new ball while Pandya is utilized in the middle overs.

A wicket-less outing against Australia in the opening match was followed up by a miserly five over spell against Bangladesh in the quarter-finals while he proved too hot to handle for Pakistan in the semi-finals, finishing with 4-17 off his 6 overs including two maidens.

Against Australia in the finals, Porel's two wickets at the start set the tone for the rest of the match as the rest of the bowling came together to restrict the total to just 206.

In the upcoming Vijay Hazare trophy, Porel will turn out for Bengal and will hope to wreak havoc in the company of Ashoke Dinda.

#8 Abhishek Sharma

Abhishek will hope to draw inspiration from Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh

Slow-left arm orthodox spinner Abhishek Sharma proved to be a vital cog for the Indian team in the middle overs as his clever mix of variations yielded important wickets at crucial junctions.A constant presence in the Indian setup, the young spinner's understanding of situations came to the fore as he mixed his pace and length fabulously well to arrest the easy flow of runs. From 6 matches, he picked 6 wickets at an outstanding average of just 16.00 and an economy of 3.91.

A capable batsman down the order, he made valuable contributions in the middle order including an important half-century against Bangladesh in the quarter-finals.

Come February 5th, the youngster will be rubbing shoulders alongside the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, and Mandeep Singh when he wears the Punjab colors for the first time in the tournament.

#7 Prithvi Shaw

Prithvi Shaw's aggressive batting could be useful at the top for Mumbai

When Prithvi Shaw ran onto the ground to celebrate his team's triumph in the U19 World Cup, social media hailed the young Mumbaikar's grit to lead his team to victory and touted his as one for the future, for no small reason.The youngster stole the spotlight with his marathon innings for Rizvi School in a domestic tournament while consistent performances for Mumbai saw him being picked to skipper the India U-19 side.Opening the batting, Shaw led from the front, playing an aggressive brand of cricket which saw him amass a total of 261 runs from 6 matches at an average of 65.65 which comprised of two sparkling half-centuries as well.

His string of consistent knocks at the top saw him finish as the fourth highest-run getter for India and while that does not really paint a pretty picture, his attacking batting and good form can come to good use for Mumbai.

#6 Shubman Gill

Shubman Gill will hope to continue his World Cup form into the Vijay Hazare trophy

The run-machine of the Indian U-19 cricket team, Shubman stamped his authority early in the tournament with an impressive half-century against Australia that set the tone for the rest of the tournament.Right through the tournament, Gill's myriad range of shots interlaced with the perfect mix of aggression and an ability to thread the gaps saw the right-hander finish with 372 runs from 6 matches - the second-highest in the tournament - at a stunning average of 124.00.

Scores of 63, 90 in the group stages sent India into the quarter-finals against Bangladesh where Gill scored yet another fifty, a 127-ball 86 that took India to a strong total.

Against Pakistan in the semi-finals, Gill scored his and India's maiden hundred in the tournament which led the way as India booked a spot in the finals against Australia.

Following a purple-patch in the World Cup, Gill's proficient batting will be useful in Punjab's title charge.

#5 Ishan Kishan

Ishan Kishan will be leading Jharkhand for the first time

Having led the India U-19 squad in 2016, Ishan Kishan will have a bigger responsibility on his young shoulders as he will lead the Jharkhand squad for the upcoming Vijay Hazare trophy which will feature the likes of Varun Aaron, Saurabh Tiwary amongst others.

Kishan, who was part of the Gujarat Lions setup for the previous two seasons of IPL enjoyed a good season in the 2017/18 Ranji Trophy, accumulating 484 runs from 12 innings at an average of 44.

In the 2017 season of the IPL, the left-hander opened the batting for the Lions and amassed a total of 277 runs from 11 matches at an excellent strike rate of 134.46.

With MS Dhoni missing out due to national commitments, the onus will be on Ishan Kishan to lead the team and also lead from the front with the bat in hand.

#4 Washington Sundar

Sundar's experience from playing for RPS and India under MS Dhoni could come in handy

At just a raw age of just 18 years, Washington Sundar has already played for India and has made a mark with consistent performances at the domestic level as well.

Crafty with the ball in the opening overs and a good bat down the order, Sundar made his domestic debut for Tamil Nadu in the 2016/17 season of the Ranji Trophy and the next year, he was roped in by the Rising Pune Supergiants in the IPL as a replacement for senior statesman Ravi Ashwin and the teenager impressed, picking up 8 wickets from 11 matches, including a man of the match performance of 3/16 in the finals.

Following a good run in the IPL, Sundar earned his maiden call-up to the Indian team for the T20 series but made his ODI debut owing to Kedar Jadhav's injury in November 2017. When he made his T20 debut against Sri Lanka the following month, Sundar achieved the unique feat of being the youngest player to debut for India in T20Is.

In the Vijay Hazare trophy, the young off-spinner will be the cynosure of all eyes as he battles for a spot back in the Indian setup.

#3 Rishabh Pant

Delhi will hope that Rishabh Pant fires right through the competition

The attacking left-handed batsman proved to be full of character after his onslaught at the 2016 U-19 World Cup that included the format's fastest fifty and a swashbuckling century caught the eyes of selectors and fans alike.

His aggressive yet sensible batting earned him a lucrative IPL contract with the Delhi Daredevils in 2016, a season from which he amassed 198 runs from 10 games at a good strike rate of 130.26 and only bettered his performance in IPL 2017, scoring 366 runs at a strike rate of 165.61.

In the 2016/17 Ranji Trophy, Pant's triple century and his feat of scoring the Ranji trophy's fastest century, from just 48 balls saw him being made the skipper of the Delhi squad for the 2016-17 Vijay Hazare Trophy in February 2017, only a month after the attacking left-hander made his T20 debut against England.

Pant's batting style coupled with his ability to generate match-winning knocks tempted DD to retain him ahead of the 2018 IPL season and it will be interesting to watch how much of an impact he makes in the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy.

#2 Karun Nair

Karun Nair has been in great form in the past few months

An integral chunk of the Karnataka middle order, Karun Nair's flamboyance while batting is a treat to watch. Nair, who was born in Rajasthan started his domestic career with Karnataka and impressed in his first season, the 2013-14 Ranji season with 494 runs from 10 matches including three centuries.

The same year, he was signed by the Royal Challengers Bangalore but played only two matches from two seasons which saw him move to the Rajasthan Royals in 2014. In that season, Nair made 330 runs from 10 games apart from scoring a remarkable 328-run knock in the finals of the 2014-15 Ranji season.

Consistent performances in the following years saw him make his ODI debut against Zimbabwe in 2016 and just a couple of months later, his test debut against England and became the second only Indian batsman to make a triple century, making a memorable 303* in the final game of the series.

In the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Nair amassed 379 runs from 9 games laced with two hundreds that will hold him in good stead for the Vijay Hazare Trophy.

#1 Ravindra Jadeja

Ravi Jadeja - Will he find fortunes turn in his favour?

In early July, when India toured West Indies, Jadeja was an integral part of the line-up with his bag of tricks and subtle variations in pace. Fast forward half a dozen months ahead and Jadeja seems nowhere in the picture with the wrist-spinning duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav having virtually shut the door on Jadeja and his spin-twin from the longer formats, Ravi Ashwin.

The Saurashtra all-rounder traveled to South Africa but could only watch from the sidelines as India faced their first foreign test of the year. The last test he played was against West Indies was at home in December.

An all-round talent who was recognized for his exploits from the U-19 World Cup and then the IPL with the Rajasthan Royals, Jadeja's performance with the Indian team during his playing days and under Dhoni earned him a spot back in CSK for IPL 2018.

With his spot in the Indian team disappearing into the shadows, Jadeja will need to bring out his A-game in the Vijay Hazare trophy with strong performances and his performances in the competition will be something to look out for.