The wheels of season 14 of the Indian Premier League have started rolling. While it’s the glitz and glamour of the cash-rich league that has made it a household affair, the IPL also packs an incredible amount of cricketing talent on display.
However, it’s not only the superstars of the game who hog the limelight. The IPL is the perfect platform for uncapped/domestic players to join hands with seasoned performers and grab the headlines.
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Over the years the IPL has enriched India’s pool of players and the 2020 season was no different. Let’s look at the players who managed to bag the national team call up because of their IPL performances.
1. T Natarajan
While the historic Test series win in Australia had many highlight reels, the story of T Natarajan would probably be the most iconic from cricket romantics.
The left-arm medium-pacer from Tamil Nadu who was known for his deadly yorkers in the domestic circuit, played his heart out in IPL 2020 and scalped 16 wickets in 16 matches for the Sunriser Hyderabad.
His fiery performance earned him a call-up for the Indian National Team for the down under tour. He made his ODI debut for Team India in the 3rd and final match and picked up the wickets of Marnus Labuschagne and Ashton Agar. Soon he yet again donned the Blue jersey, this time in the T20 format. He picked up 3 wickets on his debut and followed it up with three more wickets in the following T20Is.
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However, that should’ve been the end of Natarajan’s cricketing summer against the Kangaroos given nobody ever expected him to make the cut for the Test team so soon. But as luck would have it, India lost their two frontline pacers in Mohammad Shami and Jasprit Bumrah midway through the series.
And Natarajan was handed his Test debut in the final Test of the series, becoming part of an iconic wolf pack, which created history on foreign soil.
2. Suryakumar Yadav
The right-handed batter from Mumbai had a tremendous run of form in the previous season of IPL and amassed 480 runs in 16 matches at an average of 40.
His performances earned him a call-up for the Men in blues in the T20I series against England. Since then he has played 3 matches and scored 57 runs in the 4th T20I encounter to win the match for India. Even in the vital series-decider, he chipped in with 32 runs off 17 deliveries.
3. Ishan Kishan
The Mumbai-born wicketkeeper-batsman scored 516 runs in 14 matches at an average of 57.33 and with a strike rate of 145.76. The explosive batter was a force to reckon with last season.
His performance earned him a Team India call-up in the T20I series against England in March 2021. He opened the innings with KL Rahul in the second match. While Rahul departed for a duck, Kishan went on to make 56 off 32 balls.
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However, he failed to make a mark in the following T20I and was dropped from starting XI. But with the ICC T20 World Cup knocking at the door, Kishan will be keeping his hopes high to represent India soon.
4. Varun Chakravarthy
Tamil Nadu leg-spinner Varun Chakravarthy has redeemed himself after a questionable outing with the Kings XI Punjab side. In IPL 2020, he donned the jersey of Kolkata Knight Riders and picked up 17 wickets from his 13 matches at a strike-rate of 18.35.
His exploits with the KKR side earned him a call-up for Team India on the Australia tour. However, Chakravarthy is yet to make his debut for the Men in Blue.
5. Rahul Tewatia
IPL 2020 will forever be remembered as the Rahul Tewatia season, when the Haryana-born bowling all-rounder hogged all the limelight with his incredible power-hitting. He took international bowlers for the dryers with his clean sixes.
In his 14 matches, Tewatia amassed 255 runs at an average of 42.50 and hit 17 sixes. Soon he earned a call-up for Team India’s T20I side.
However, like Chakravarthy, Tewatia is yet to make his debut for the Men in Blue.
