5 Young players who might be inducted in Indian team in Rahul Dravid era

Rahul Dravid has started his second innings as the head coach of the Indian Cricket Team. The recently concluded first T20 international between India and New Zealand on Wednesday marked the start of Rahul Dravid Era in the Indian Cricket. Rohit Sharma has been appointed as the new captain of the Indian Cricket Team in T20 cricket. Virat Kohli will continue to lead the team in the other two formats. Indian Cricket began the Rahul Dravid-Era with a 5-wicket win against New Zealand in the first of the three-match T20 series on Wednesday. In the next two years till the 2024 World Cup, several other Indian youngsters are likely to make their debut for the Indian Cricket Team. Here is a look at 5 young players who might be inducted in Indian team in Rahul Dravid era.

5. Umran Malik

Playing his first match for SRH in IPL, the 21-year old Umran Malik bowled the fastest delivery of the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League. It was also the fastest delivery ever bowled by an Indian in IPL. The 21-year old fast bowler impressed one and all with his raw pace. He played only 3 matches in IPL 2021 but is expected to play a lot more in the coming years.

There is no denying that India need bowlers who could bowl at 140-150 clicks and Umran Malik could be a great future prospect for the same. It will be interesting to see how he plays in the next couple of years.

4. Ravi Bishnoi

Ravi Bishnoi is quickly rising through the ranks and it shouldn’t come as a surprise if he gets to make his debut for the Indian Cricket Team in the next couple of years. Rajasthan’s leg-spinner, Ravi Bishnoi is one of the rising stars in Indian Cricket. But, he came to prominence after picking the most number of wickets in the 2020 Under-19 World Cup. He picked 17 wickets for India in just 6 matches at an average of 10.65.

Bishnoi has been playing for Punjab Kings in IPL for the last couple of years. Punjab wouldn’t be too happy for not adding him in the playing XI in all the games during the 2021 edition. In 9 matches, he picked 12 wickets at an average of 18.50.

3. Arshdeep Singh

Punjab’s young seamer Arshdeep Singh has shown in the previous couple of years that he can represent Indian senior team in the future. He bowled difficult overs for his team. He bowled in powerplay and death overs mainly which are considered fairly difficult than other overs.  In IPL 2021, in 12 matches, he managed to pick 18 wickets at an average of 19.00 and a strike rate of 15.23.

Also, there is no denying of the face there is a dearth of left arm seamers in Indian cricket. Indian team have tried a few options like T Natrajan, Jaidev Unadkat, Khalil Ahmed and many others. But none of them have lived upto the expectations. Another goof season in IPL can give Arshdeep his international selection.

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2. Ruturaj Gaikwad

Here comes the classy opener of Chennai Super Kings. He played brilliantly in IPL 2021 and provide good starts to his team. The CSK opener played all the matches in the tournament and finished as the highest run-scorer in the tournament. In 16 matches, he scored 635 runs at an average of 45.36 and a strike rate of 136.27. It was a treat to watch him bat during the tournament.

Interestingly, with the kind of temperament he has shown, he can be inducted in the Indian team in the coming years. He is a guy who can play in every format. He opened the innings with Faf Duplessis. But he took the limelight from such a senior player.

1. Devdutt Padikkal

And the first spot is being stole by classy left handed opener from RCB. He is scoring runs in the domestic cricket for some time now. He was the highest run scorer in IPL 2020 with some bigger names like Virat Kohli, AB De Villiers already in the team. Padikkal is also performing consistently for RCB. Also, he scored the second most number of runs only behind Prithvi Shaw in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. He scored 737 runs in 7 matches during the tournament. In IPL 2021, Padikkal scored 411 runs in 14 matches at an average of 31.61 and a strike rate of 125.30.

Also, he is a left handed player. In contrast, most of Indian openers are right handed. He can provide good right-left combination also.

5 young players who might be inducted in Indian team in Rahul Dravid era