Over the years, the Indian Premier League has given birth to several superstars, many of whom have enjoyed a remarkable international career too. Indian cricket team regulars such as Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah were first recognized for their scintillating IPL performances and both of them succeeded at the highest level despite very little first-class experience. Many such promising youngsters across countries have been purchased by the franchises at the IPL 2021 auction. This article will list five debutants who have the potential to leave their mark on the 2021 IPL,
5. Riley Meredith
A tearaway quick who made his name in the BBL, Meredith was picked up for an amount of 8 crores by Kings XI Punjab. He picked up 16 wickets at an average of 24.62 and his pace often troubled the batsmen.
His economy was on the higher side, as is the case with many wicket-taking bowlers. IPL is Meredith’s biggest test yet and he needs to adapt quickly to Indian conditions and develop variations to succeed.
4. Fabian Allen
His West Indies career so far has looked unimpressive but he continues to score runs at a towering strike rate in the T-20 leagues across the globe. He can be the perfect number 7 on pitches that offer turn as he can also chip in with useful overs.
Quick cameos are his speciality and only time will tell whether he can be more consistent while playing higher up the order. In the recent past, he has been more impressive with the ball and the Punjab Kings’ lack of established spinners might make his bowling more valuable than his batting.
3. Kyle Jamieson
Jamieson’s reputation has grown leaps and bounds since his debut against India last year. In Tests, he has all the ingredients to become a great bowler but his T-20 career so far has been underwhelming and does not justify his price tag.
But anyone who has seen him bowl can understand the excitement surrounding him as his ability cannot be questioned. If he can score some useful runs for RCB lower down the order in addition to picking up wickets, he has a long career ahead in the shortest format.
2. Jhye Richardson
After missing out on the 2019 World Cup, Jhye Richardson made a short comeback to Australian colours before the pandemic. He came to all guns blazing after the pandemic as he picked up 29 wickets while maintaining a terrific economy of 7.69.
Richardson has been earmarked for greatness ever since his first-class debut for Western Australia in 2015, but injuries have hampered his progress. He finally seems to be fully fit and his ability to bowl in any phase of the game gives him the edge over other standard T-20 bowlers.
1. Dawid Malan
Malan started out as a Test specialist but his England career failed to take off as expected. He has now re-invented himself as a reliable stroke maker in the shortest format and success in the IPL could make him the hottest property in T-20 cricket. He has so far played the spinners very well but he might not start every game as Chris Gayle still seems to have some gas left in him.
Malan became the number 1 batsmen in T-20 cricket dethroning Virat Kohli and recently reached the highest ever rating points for a T-20 batsman. He is quite versatile, and it will not be a surprise to see him coming in at number 4 or number 5 and playing useful cameos for Punjab Kings.
