IPL has developed to an extent where the performance in this league matters a lot and the players scoring runs or taking wickets in IPL don’t generally go unnoticed.
Even in the recently picked squad of India for the tour of Australia, quite a few players got a look-in as they were playing well in the IPL. Here are the 4 players who got selected based on their IPL form.
1. Varun Chakravarthy
Varun Chakravarthy has not played too many games in the domestic circuit of India and has been selected purely based on his heroics in the IPL. Just a couple of days ahead of the selection, Charkravarthy secured a five-wicket haul to his name in a game against Delhi Capitals which might have helped him in the selection race.
But, the thing with Chakravarthy is that he is not a conventional finger spinner or wrist spinner, he is a mystery spinner. It might seem a very fancy term, but he doesn’t really flight the ball a lot and bowls into the pitch most of the time.
For Chakravarthy to be effective, he must need some assistance from the surface which he might not get in Australia as the Australian pitches will be flat and the bounce will be even. It will be interesting to see how Chakravarthy goes in Australia in case he gets an opportunity.
2. Sanju Samson
For Sanju Samson, this IPL season has been no different to any other IPL season. In almost every IPL season, he plays a couple of breathtaking knocks and then fades away in the middle part of the tournament and it has been the same this season as well, but there is no denying the fact that Sanju has the capabilities to turn into a world class player.
And probably that’s why, despite his inconsistent performances, the Indian selectors have decided to give Sanju another go on the tour of Australia. The Australian surfaces might actually help Sanju because he is someone who likes the ball coming onto the bat. The Australian pitches will be quick and bouncy and the kind of technique Sanju has got, he will enjoy batting on those surfaces.
3. KL Rahul
While KL Rahul’s selection in the ODI and T20I squads is not debatable at all, his selection in the Test squad has been done on the basis of form that he has shown in the IPL and that’s a bit weird because Test cricket is red ball cricket and it has nothing to do with the form that a player shows in IPL.
Rahul is one of the greatest talents India has produced in the recent times, but the fact remains that he has not been as successful in Test cricket as he was expected to and since being dropped from the Test side, he has not played that much of first class cricket either. So, his selection in the Test team is only a result of his IPL heroics.
4. Mayank Agarwal
Mayank Agarwal is also someone who was not an automatic selection in India’s ODI and T20I squad ahead of IPL 2020, but the kind of form he showed in the IPL, he was named in the Indian squad for all three formats.
Another factor which went in Agarwal’s favor is the fact that the Indian vice captain Rohit Sharma was injured which opened up a spot at the top of the order.
