255.4 billion minutes. No, this isn’t the amount of time people have spent watching cute cat videos on the Internet.
It’s actually the total watch time for India’s beloved cricket carnival, the Indian Premier League (IPL). The number becomes more staggering when you realise that it includes only the first 45 matches of the 2021 edition.
If you live in India, you must have realised by now that the sheer craze and year-round excitement around cricket reach its peak when the IPL rolls around in March.
Blue Indian jerseys are replaced by the colourful jerseys of IPL teams and best friends turn into rivals as the world gears up for another scintillating season of high-octane cricketing action.
The 2021 edition of the IPL had to be conducted in 2 phases due to the COVID-19 crisis in India. While the 1st leg of the 2021 IPL was conducted in India behind closed doors, the 2nd leg had to be shifted to the UAE.
The 2022 edition, however, sees the return of crowds as the Maharashtra government has allowed fully-vaccinated fans to watch the matches live up to 25% stadium capacity.
This year’s IPL promises to be even more exciting as the mega-auction has led to a complete reshuffling of the squads. To add to the excitement, 2 new teams have been added, the Lucknow Supergiants and the Gujarat Titans, creating a 10-team IPL with a 2-group format.
Amongst this galaxy of superstars, it’s not easy to figure out who will be the star performers this season. However, based on the track record and current form of the players, we can determine the players who will own the stage and shine the brightest.
So, read on to find out the top 5 Indian players who will inevitably light up this year’s IPL 2022!
1. Shreyas Iyer – The New Kolkata Knight
Life has been full of ups and downs for Shreyas Iyer.
Since he made his international debut for India in 2017, he’s been in and out of the national side. While injuries kept him out of the team on some occasions, poor form and team combinations kept him out on other occasions.
After a long wait, Shreyas Iyer made his international Test debut in November 2021 against New Zealand and slammed a century and a fifty on debut. This Shreyas Iyer was different. There was a renewed hunger and passion in his eyes.
He grabbed the opportunities that came his way with both hands in T20Is and ODIs too, playing countless match-winning knocks and proving his class and versatility to the world.
In Virat Kohli’s absence, new Indian captain Rohit Sharma decided to play Shreyas at number 3 for India in the T20I series against Sri Lanka. Shreyas responded by plundering the Sri Lankan bowling attack into submission, scoring 57*(28), 74*(44), 73*(45) in the 3 matches. The Sri Lankans could not get him out even once throughout the series, such was his dominance.
In 24 ODI innings, Shreyas has scored 947 runs at an average of 41.17 and a strike rate of 96.04. In 32 T20I innings, he has scored 809 runs at an average of 36.77 and a strike rate of 141.43.
Having been an integral part of Delhi Capitals over the years, Shreyas was appointed as captain of the side in IPL 2018 mid-season. Shreyas led from the front and the Delhi Capitals saw a meteoric rise under him, even reaching the finals in IPL 2020.
However, due to an injury layoff, Rishabh Pant was named Delhi captain in IPL 2021, and even when Shreyas came back in the 2nd leg in the UAE, Rishabh was retained as captain. When Rishabh was retained as captain by Delhi prior to the IPL 2022, Shreyas decided to part ways with his long-term franchise.
Shreyas was picked up by KKR in the IPL 2022 mega-auction for a staggering 12.25 crores and named KKR captain soon after.
With 2375 runs in 87 IPL innings under his belt, Shreyas will be eager to lead the two-time IPL champions to another trophy. A vastly experienced player with supreme fitness and a drive to get better, Shreyas is the perfect man to lead Kolkata to greater heights.
He is in red-hot form in international cricket and knows what it takes to bring a team like Delhi to the top of the points table and can surely replicate it with the entire KKR franchise at his disposal.
Watch out this year for the new KKR skipper, and no matter what team you support, just enjoy his glorious batting.
2. Ravindra Jadeja – Arise Sir Jadeja
If you are an Indian cricket fan and you haven’t heard of Ravindra Jadeja’s exploits, then you must have been living under a rock all these years.
One of the most improved cricketers over the last few years, Jadeja has stormed his way back into all 3 formats for India and become irreplaceable. Jadeja was even played ahead of Ravichandran Ashwin in the Test series against England in 2021 because of his superior all-round abilities.
An absolute superstar in all 3 departments, bowling, batting, and fielding, Jadeja has proved himself in a variety of difficult situations for India and for his IPL team, CSK.
A simple glance at Jadeja’s stats so far across formats and in the IPL is not enough to understand the impact he’s had in recent years.
There are very few fielders in the world right now better than Jadeja. His clever bowling in Indian spin-friendly conditions always keeps the opposition batters quiet.
His power-hitting has reached another level now, and he is able to score runs at all phases of the innings. In the recent T20I series against Sri Lanka, Jadeja came in to bat at number 5 in the 2nd T20I and hammered the Sri Lankans to end with 45*(18). In the 3rd match of the series, once again finished the innings with ease, scoring a brisk 22*(15).
With the stocks rising for Sir Ravindra Jadeja, CSK retained him ahead of the IPL 2022 mega-auction for 16 crores, even ahead of MS Dhoni himself.
With scintillating form and the backing of MS Dhoni, Jadeja is certainly going to cause nightmares for opposition players in this year’s IPL! Keep your eyes peeled for his sword-dance celebration.
3. KL Rahul – Lucknow’s Messiah
Life is a roller-coaster when your name is KL Rahul. A year ago, Rahul wasn’t even making it to the playing 11 of the Indian Test team.
Fast forward to now, and he’s the vice-captain of the Indian team across all formats, having even captained his country in the ODI series against South Africa earlier this year.
Before an upper left hamstring strain injury ruled him out, Rahul was in scintillating form across formats, standing up for his team whenever they needed him.
He has racked up phenomenal numbers across formats for India and in the IPL over the years.
Rahul also scored 626 runs in 13 innings at an average of 62.6 and a strike rate of 138.8 in IPL 2021, proving how lethal he is with the bat.
Despite not being able to reach the playoffs, Rahul led the Punjab Kings well in both IPL 2020 and IPL 2021. This eventually led him to get drafted by the new IPL team, Lucknow Supergiants, as captain for a whopping 17 crore.
Every cricket fan across the world knows how destructive KL Rahul can be with the bat when he’s not holding himself back. A new franchise trying to find its feet in the high-voltage IPL, the Lucknow team will be hoping that the wicketkeeper-batsman unleashes his true self and gets them off to a good start.
Watch out for the new Lucknow skipper and his pyrotechnics in this year’s IPL!
4. Ruturaj Gaikwad – The New-Age Run Machine
When Ruturaj Gaikwad played a few good knocks in the dying days of CSK’s disastrous 2020 IPL campaign, people took notice. This man was good. But his rise was cut short as CSK crashed out of the tournament, failing to qualify for the playoffs after a long time.
In IPL 2021, however, when the same Ruturaj Gaikwad bludgeoned every single bowling attack he faced, plundering 635 runs in 16 innings at an average of 45.35 and a strike rate 136.26, people didn’t just notice, they stood and applauded. Ruturaj hit 4 fifties and a magnificent 101* in the 2021 season, taking his team to their 4th IPL trophy.
Cricket fans, pundits, and experts from all over started talking about Ruturaj and calls for him to be given chances in the Indian national side grew stronger. Although Ruturaj didn’t get many chances in the Indian team, he wasn’t fazed.
He simply continued his murderous run-scoring purple patch in the 2021 Vijay Hazare Trophy. Captaining Maharashtra, Ruturaj led from the front and scored 603 runs in just 5 matches at an average of 150.75 and a strike rate of 112.92. This included 4 centuries (scores of 168, 124, 154*, 136).
Although Ruturaj is recovering from an injury at the NCA, he will be raring to go and prove himself in this year’s IPL, especially after having been retained by CSK for 6 crores.
The orange-cap holder of IPL 2021 knows that he can score big runs in pressure situations, and the Chennai Super Kings will be counting on him to do just that.
5. Venkatesh Iyer – The New 3D player
Let’s face it. Everyone loves all-rounders.
From captains, to franchise owners, to fans, everyone knows that all-rounders have the ability to consistently contribute in multiple areas of the game. They also lend balance to a playing eleven and allow the captain flexibility with his bowling options.
A player shot into the limelight last season, Venkatesh Iyer’s rise has been meteoric.
In the 2nd half of IPL 2021, KKR took a gamble and played a new young man named Venkatesh Iyer.
Miraculously, it worked.
Opening the batting, Iyer scored 370 crucial runs in 10 innings at an average of 41.11 and a strike rate of 128.47, taking KKR to the finals.
He also offered his captain, Eoin Morgan, a good backup bowling option, taking 3 wickets in the 4 innings he bowled in.
Iyer soon received national call-ups and made his debut in both ODIs and T20Is, producing impactful performances for his country.
The sheer confidence in his batting and bowling abilities despite being made to bat down the order and adopt the finisher’s role has been mesmerising to watch.
In a short amount of time, Venkatesh Iyer has adapted to the rigours of international cricket and dominated.
KKR fans will hope that their “Venky” produces more impactful performances with both the ball and the bat this season, and take their team to the top.
Conclusion
With such a huge number of superstars playing this edition of the IPL, it’s always a difficult task to choose the top 5 players.
However, I hope you enjoyed reading this article and are excited to watch these promising players in action in this year’s IPL!
The 2 new teams, Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Supergiants will be looking to create their own legacies while the 8 old teams will be looking to add a new chapter in their rich history books.
Which players do you think will truly light up this year’s IPL? Let me know what you think in the comments section below!
Started reading casually and suddenly became so invested, very interesting read!!
Thanks Aman! Glad you liked it!