Each year, new stars are born and others fade into semi-oblivion. IPL 2024 has already thrown up one clear standout: bowling sensation express Mayank Yadav. He, along with several other batsmen, look set for greater innings in the near future.
Let’s look at players who have already begun to shine – though there’s a consumer warning here. A stunning start is no guarantee of long-lasting stardom. Some of the early stars:
Mayank Yadav
Mayank Yadav is the unquestioned Speed King of IPL 2024 who has batsmen watching nervously as he sends down speeding thunderbolts.
For starters, he’s the first player in IPL history to win two Player-of-the-Match awards in his first two matches. Yadav’s speediest ball was 156.7kmph against Royal Challengers Bangalore, the fastest so far in IPL 2024. In an earlier match, he sent nine balls that hurtled down the pitch at over 150kmph. Against Punjab Kings, he took three wickets for just 27 runs, taking his team Lucknow Super Giants to victory. Yadav’s bowling helped propel LSG to a 28-run win over Royal Challengers Bangalore. The explosive speeds he’s been clocking are already being described as the equivalent of former Australia quick Shaun Tait in his prime. This week Yadav had to leave the field after bowling one over against Gujarat Titans. There’s a possibility he may have to miss one or even two IPL matches
Still, this Delhi boy is still just 21 and experts believe he could soon be bowling even faster as he matures. “To have mid-150s consistently in your arsenal is pretty formidable,” says Australia allrounder Glenn Maxwell. Bear in mind that the quickest ball ever in first-class cricket pelted down the pitch at 161kmph. “I am 21 and I think I will bowl faster than this,” the pace sensation told online news channel Editorji.
Some pace bowlers frighten batsman by their sheer aggression. Not Yadav, who’s polite and soft-spoken – and importantly – 6ft-1in tall. He was lucky enough to be spotted early and taken under the wing of a coach who gave him space to grow. The fast bowler attributes his success so far as being due to “natural ability and hard work.” The discussion has already begun about whether he should be included in the India squad for the T20 World Cup in June.
Riyan Parag
For Rajasthan Royals, it was all about patience being rewarded. They stuck with Riyan Parag for two IPL seasons even when he didn’t set the stadiums alight.
This year, Parag, 22, has finally turned in the explosive batting performances expected of him. The player, who was already a World Cup medallist at 16, briefly wore the Orange Cap awarded to the tournament’s highest scoring batsman – and he took it from none other than Virat Kohli. Though one day later, Kohli snatched it back. Parag, who grew up in a family steeped in sports, is also near the top for the most number of sixes – In three matches, the right-handed batter has slammed 12 over the boundary. These performances helped to take RR to the top of the league tables – though it has now been pushed to second spot by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
Parag insisted after one match that he was just doing what he always does in domestic matches: assess the situation and play accordingly. If that’s his secret, it’s served him well. He’s scored two half centuries and a total of 185 runs in four matches. After the first three games he had an average of 161. He fell cheaply in the match against RCB scoring only four but his team won easily.
It was almost a given that Parag would become a sportsman. His father played in 46 first-class cricket matches and his mother was an international swimmer. He showed promise early and at 16 helped the India U-19 win a tournament in New Zealand. RR once let go of him but took him back again. IPL 2024 is still at a relatively early stage and everybody’s waiting and watching to see if Parag can keep up his superlative form.
Abhishek Sharma
Abhishek Sharma’s best moments in IPL 2024 so far came when he smashed a blistering 37 runs off 12 balls and set up his team Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for a narrow victory against Chennai Super Kings. The 37 included a phenomenal four sixes and three fours – in other words all his runs except one came off boundary strokes.
The left-hand hard-hitting lower batsman turned out an even more impressive performance against Mumbai Indians, blasting a half-century in just 16 balls and finally ended up with 63 in 23 balls. Sharma, who’s 23, has hit an extraordinary 15 sixes in four matches and is just behind teammate Heinrich Klaasen, who has 17.
Sharma, who’s from Amritsar, has now notched up 160 runs in four matches and has climbed to fifth spot in the batting league tables. Can he keep up the big hitting? IPL fans are waiting – and watching.
Sai Sudharshan
The commentators dismissively say that Sai Sudharshan's natural batting style won't set the Ganges or the Yamuna on fire. But there’s no arguing that the scores notched up by the Gujarat Titans batsman make him worth watching.
Sudharshan, who’s 23 and comes from a family of sportspeople, has just shot up the batting charts from the 10th highest scorer in IPL 2024 to the fifth position from the top. The all-rounder from Chennai has played 18 matches to date in his IPL career and has scored 698 runs, with an average of 43.63. He has also slammed 4 half-centuries.
