IPL 2014: 7 contenders for "Emerging Player of the Season" award

The Indian Premier League furnishes a stage "Where Talent Meets Opportunity". This season of the IPL has been no different either, in that respect. While on the one hand, brand new players, out of nowhere, have made their presence felt, known potenital stars with reignited spirits are doing wonders for their sides. It is a known fact that the IPL garners much greater attention than domestic cricket itself, which may not be ideal, but that's the way it is. Nonetheless, here are a few contenders for the Emerging Player award for IPL's 7th season.

#1 Glenn Maxwell - Kings XI Punjab

This spunky Aussie has been the show-stopper. Toying with bowlers and destroying their reputations, the Mumbai Indians castaway has taken the IPL 2014 by storm, right from the word go. Personifying confidence, panache and sheer arrogance, Maxi’s perfectly fitting for an Australian. Oozing with unprecedented hunger for clearing the boundary, he can decimate his adversaries on his day; seemingly, he’s making every day his own.

Technically, his free-flowing swing of the Kookaburra blade instantly catches the eye. Yesterday, post his onslaught against the Chennai Super Kings, even MS Dhoni, a clean-hitter himself, couldn’t resist but lavish praise on the Melbournian phenomenon.

“You need some serious talent to hit those sixes one after the other. He is someone who is very different, like Sehwag or Tendulkar and he is batting at his best," said Dhoni.

The people who dubbed him as ‘The Million-Dollar Baby’ are nowhere to be found, anymore. In just 7 matches, he's bludgeoned his way to 435 runs at an incredible average and strike rate combo of 62.14- 203.27. A couple of more devastating knocks should safely ensure that he bags the Emerging player of the Year award.

#2 Mohit Sharma - Chennai Super Kings

Thanks to the disciplined show put up by the Indian seamers, Chennai Super Kings have had the luxury to play three specialist overseas batsmen in their XI. Mohit Sharma, in particular, has been mighty impressive. He was merely used as a swing bowler in the powerplay overs last season. This year, however, it’s been an evolution of sorts for him.

The shoulder injury to all-rounder Dwayne Bravo meant that CSK desperately needed someone to put their hand up to bowl at the death. Sharma accepted the challenge and has been performing fairly well enough. Not only has he been picking up crucial wickets upfront, but also has come back at the death to outfox the batsmen with his wily back-of-the-hand slower deliveries.

Heading the wicket-taking charts as of now with 14 wickets in 8 games, Mohit Sharma has a pretty strong case to win the Emerging Player of the Year award.

#3 Varun Aaron - Royal Challengers Bangalore

A clear mind with no pressure it can do wonders! For the Jharkhand speedster Varun Aaron, at least, it has certainly been the case. Licensed to bowl with pace and aggression, he has unearthed a whole new self after the bashing he took in the Asia Cup in Bangladesh.

In the Asia Cup, his extra pace didnt help given his inconsistency in lines and lengths. Here in the IPL, however, Aarons nagging accuracy has been the most heartening aspect of his bowling. Consistently clocking in excess of 145 clicks and hustling the batters with well-directed bouncers, Aaron has been the leading wicket-taker for RCB with 11 wickets in 6 games.Keeping the momentous overseas tours of England and Australia in mind, Aaron's stellar form should thoroughly delight the selectors.

#4 David Miller - Kings XI Punjab

While Maxwell’s been hogging all the limelight, the man who has quietly gone about his business is David Miller. A household name after his pyrotechnics last year, Miller was one of the two players (other being Manan Vohra) retained by the Kings XI Punjab before the auction. Living up to the faith of the franchise, Miller has fulfilled the role of holding the innings together, while Maxwell has been going berserk at the other end.

Intent on not trying to outdo Maxi in the middle overs, Miller’s smart temperament deserves tremendous applause. This is, however, not to say that he can’t club the cricket ball long. In fact, he is consistent with his clobberring in every game – recording an average of 43.60 runs combined with a strike rate of 155.71.

#5 Yuzvendra Chahal - Royal Challengers Bangalore

While the Indian cricketing pundits lament over the extinction of quality spinners in the domestic circuit, players like Yuzvendra Chahal keep coming up, only to accentuate the lack of attention on the domestic tournaments. A former junior-level chess player for India, Chahal has been exclusively carrying the load of the spin-bowling department.

To start with, a big heart is the all-important requisite for a leggie. Chahal sure has it, backed by an aggressive skipper in VIrat Kohli. His flight, his rip, his lines, his lengths, and of course, his commitment in the field – there is nothing to hate about this man’s ability.

Few spinners have the pluck to toss the bowl up to the likes of Pollard, Rohit Sharma, Corey Anderson and so on. Chahal's not only daring to do so, but he is vily enough to know which variation would work in which situation. He's not picked up too many wickets (just 8 from 7 games), but his run-conceeding rate of 5.96 per over stands out, entirely because they are the figures of a leg-spinner, an art extremely onerous to execute perfectly.

#6 Sandeep Sharma - Kings XI Punjab

Sandeep Sharma’s been the real find for Kings XI Punjab in the bowling department. Arising from the Under-19 setup, Sharma was India’s leading wicket-taker with 12 wickets in India’s Under-19 World Cup-winning campaign in 2012. Excelling at grabbing the opportunities presented, he picked up 8 wickets in 4 games for KXIP last season.

Uncustomary for a 20-year old, his consistency and control over the new cherry is remarkable. Prodigiously swinging the ball into the left-handers, even the RCB stalwart Chris Gayle got knocked over in his attempts to deposit him twenty rows back.

Having notched up 10 wickets in just half the number of matches at a miserly economy rate of 7.04, Sandeep has every chance to be the next big thing in Indian cricket.

#7 Suryakumar Yadav - Kolkata Knight Riders

Suryakumar Yadav comes as a breath of fresh air for Indians groaning about the lack of flair in country’s batting talent. Sweep, reverse sweep, ramp shot – all these shots look fine as long as they are played to a spinner. This is Suryakumar Ashok Yadav for you; not afraid to unfurl his outrageous audacity against the quicker men.

Horrible showing by the finishers in the KKR setup has meant that Yadav has had to take care of the innings at the end on most occassions. Guess what! He’s been extremely impressive so far in the tourney - averaging over 42 and striking at 138.04. Yadav is unswervingly making the opportunities count.