Vijay Hazare Trophy 2017: Five players to look out for in the future

This year’s edition of Vijay Hazare has been more pulsating and entertaining to the previous edition of the tournament. Almost all the teams did not have their star players as they were part of the Indian squad for the Australia Test series. M S Dhoni marked his domestic return with a string of fabulous performance against the likes of Chattisgarh, Delhi and Bengal. The strategies and the playing XI this year saw a significant upgrade for few and a few downgrades for the others. Delhi arguably has the best side in this year’s tournament in terms of international players in the team. Tamil Nadu, the champions of the Vijay Hazare 2017 had to revamp their side from last year’s semi-final exit, with as many as five changes in the starting line-up over one season. International players like Shikhar Dhawan has failed to utilise the platform to show his worth to the Indian side whereas on the other hand Mohammed Shami has knocked on the doors of the selectors with a string of good performances in the tournament. Talking about team efforts, Bengal and Tamil Nadu stood out from the rest, despite teams like Karnataka getting a clean sweep over its competitors in the group D of the tournament. Vijay Hazare has always been one of the platforms for showcasing the innate talent that every player has, and just like last season, there were players who utilised this for an improvement and the others form just dipped. Dinesh Karthik’s form has been a blessing in disguise for Delhi Daredevils for the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The likes of Shreevats Goswami, Aswin Crist have improved drastically over the last season and has helped their teams in dire situations. Here we pick the five players who might in the future feature in the Blue Jersey: 1) Aswin Crist (Photo Source: Sportskeeda) The tall, lanky right-arm quick from Tamil Nadu has impressed the critics with consistent performance in the past few years. This year’s Ranji Trophy saw Aswin Crist pick up 35 wickets with best figures of 6/31 and best match figures of 7/82. The right-arm quick has also played a crucial part in Tamil Nadu’s victory in the Vijay Hazare Trophy finishing as the leading wicket-tacker in the tournament with 20 wickets under his name. The pace bowler could be a difficult customer to face on a pitch which supports the fast-bowlers His relentless work ethic also means that he is an asset to any team even on a dry pitch where the workload of the fast bowlers could be a huge burden. With the lack of tall-quick bowlers who are consistent in the domestic circuit, Aswin Crist would be one of the leading candidates for a place in Team India. 2) Shahbaz Nadeem: Shahbaz Nadeem. (Photo by MANAN VATSYAYANA/AFP/Getty Images) The left-arm spinner was picked up in the squad to face the visiting English side this Indian summer. The left-arm spinner’s inclusion was the result of the tireless spells that the spinner has bowled over this Indian domestic season. The 27-year-old spinner from Jharkhand has impressed the selectors with his performances in the Indian Premier League with the Delhi Daredevils. The spinner also finished as the leading wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy this season with 56 wickets under his name. What is more impressive is the spinner’s attitude with the ball. Nadeem is a street smart bowler, and with the set of variations that he possesses, it would be difficult for any top batsmen to read. With an impressive economy of 4.11 in the Vijay Hazare, it is almost time that the Indian team management gives the left-arm spinner an opportunity. 3) AR Easwaran (Photo Source: CricFit) The 21-year-old right-hand opener has been a bit of revelation for the state of Bengal. He ended the Vijay Hazare as the leading run-scorer for the state, amassing 472 runs at an average of 59 runs per innings second best only to Dinesh Karthik who has scored 607 runs in the tournament. The temperament showed by the young batsman has placed him over the other opening batsmen in the tournament. His performances against the likes of Jharkhand has definitely proved his worth. With the best score of 127, the opening batsman has shown that he is spoilt for choices when it comes to shot selection. The right-hand opener is equally strong on the front foot as he is on the back-foot and the technique that he has shown in the tournament has impressed the critics. 4) Shardul Thakur Shardul Thakur. (Photo Source: Twitter) The express pace bowler from Mumbai has been the name that has gone rounds since he announced his entry into the domestic arena with 50 wickets in a single domestic season. The pace bowler has then gone on to rattle more stump and stun more batsmen with his pace and steep bounce. The 25-year-old pace bowler from Palghar has the ability to swing the ball away from the right-hander even while hitting the pitch hard which is relatively rare for a fast bowler. The quick bowler has failed to impress his former IPL franchise with his off-field antics and his attitude in the team. The 25-year-old finished the Vijay Hazare trophy as the third best bowler behind the likes of Tamil Nadu’s Aswin Crist and Saurashtra’s KD Patel with 17 wickets in just six games for the Mumbai team. 5) Krunal Pandya Krunal Pandya. (Photo Source: BCCI) Krunal Pandya, the elder brother of Indian international Hardik Pandya, has impressed the cricket-lovers from last year’s IPL. The 25-year-old all-rounder was picked up by the Mumbai Indians, and the all-rounder has not looked back since. The all-rounder from Gujarat bowls slow-left-arm orthodox and bats left-handed. The 25-year-old has scored 237 runs in the Indian Premier League with a high score of 86 runs, scoring 22 boundaries and 13 sixes in the entire tournament. With the ball, the left-arm orthodox has picked up six wickets in the tournament. His match-winning innings of 78 runs and three wickets against Karnataka helped his side go past a resilient Karnataka outfit. It is definitely time that the all-rounder deserves a chance in the Indian Jersey in the T20 format.

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Vijay Hazare Trophy 2017: Five players to look out for in the future

2) Shahbaz Nadeem:

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