IPL 2022: Youngest XI of the tournament

This year’s Indian Premier League was undoubtedly the best season for the young guns of Indian cricket and world cricketers too. Every match becomes a platform for youngsters to come to rescue their team, and they take up the charge as well. Debutants from different countries who have promising bowling or batting talent remain one of the season’s highlights. Gujarat Titans won the trophy in their maiden season with a comfortable win over Rajasthan Royals in the final. Mostly the youngsters came up with their competitive spirit to stand tall. Many of these youngsters have the capability to stick to their franchise and represent them in the next five years as well. The IPL consists of half of its players being under 30 years of age, who perform consistently well throughout. A lot of the newly drafted players in whom the franchises have vastly invested are the ones under 25 years of age keeping the future in mind. Here we bring you the youngest XI of IPL 2022 1. Ruturaj Gaikwad (25) Ruturaj Gaikwad. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI) The opening batter who hails from Pune, Ruturaj Gaikwad, has been a consistent performer for his state team Maharasthra. He has been a great asset to his domestic team in all these years and Chennai bagged the right-handed batter in 2019 at his base price of Rs. 20 lakh and was retained before this season. The 25-year-old batter has risen on enough occasions with his performance. Although this season was not his best one, he still has a lot to offer in the coming years for India and CSK. Gaikwad surely has shown that he can be a promising opener for India if he gets enough opportunities. Gaikwad’s IPL 2022 stint wasn’t as good as the previous year. His highest this year was when he fell one run short of scoring a century against SRH. In the 14 matches he played this season for CSK, he scored 368 runs at an average of 26.29 and with a strike rate of 126.46. 2. Shubman Gill (22) Shubman Gill. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI) Shubman Gill was one of the best finds from the 2018 U19 World Cup where he was named the Player of the tournament after India won. Since Gill’s debut, his batting has been consistently good as he has maintained an average of over 30. His inclusion in the national Test side shows the class this batter holds. The 22-year-old who hails from Punjab has drawn immense praise from all quarters throughout these years. He made his IPL debut with KKR and the franchise did not let him go until this year’s mega auction where Gujarat pounced on the chance to rope him in. Gill is as good as an opener as he is in the middle order. His flex while fielding also makes him a delight to watch. This year in the 16 matches for Gujarat, he scored 483 runs with a strike rate of 132.32 and maintained an average of 34.50 and played a crucial role in the team winning the trophy. More than the shortest format, his batting class is vastly visible in the longest format of the game. 3. Tilak Varma (19) Tilak Varma. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI) Tilak Varma is a left-handed batter from Hyderabad, who made his IPL debut this year with Mumbai Indians and emerged as their best one. Tilak is the highest run-scorer for Mumbai Indians this time. MI bagged him at Rs.1.70 cr in the mega auction and gave him a chance to bat in the top order in most of the games. Varma scored 397 runs in the 12 matches he played for MI at an average of 36.09 and a strike rate of 131. His ability to add runs up the order has roped in praises for him from all over the internet. His highest this season has been 61 runs and with how MI has performed this season, he is definitely the find of the year for them. In the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021-22, he scored 180 runs in five games alongside taking four wickets and was also effective in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy in the previous season, scoring 215 runs in seven games at a strike rate of 147.26. He was also a member of India’s U19 World Cup squad in 2020. 4. Rishabh Pant (C)(Wk) (24) Rishabh Pant. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI) Rishabh Pant has been in the news since his debut in IPL. The wicketkeeper-captain of Delhi Capitals, Pant has achieved several big laurels at just the age of 24 years. He was one of the three players retained by Delhi ahead of the 2018 auction, and paid it back with a season, scoring close to 700 runs. Pant had an on-and-off season this year. While the youngster was coming into this edition of the tournament on the back of a brilliant run of form in international cricket, he couldn’t replicate the same for Delhi Capitals. He scored 340 runs in the 14 matches played at an average of 30. Pant who hails from Delhi, debuted in 2016 with DC itself and has not left the side. He has the talent to quench the thirst of a wicketkeeper finisher in the absence of MS Dhoni in the upcoming years. 5. Dewald Brevis (19) Dewald Brevis. (Photo Source: Twitter) Mumbai Indians have shown trust in the young boys time and again and Brevis is one such investment. In the latest U19 WC, he had slammed 506 runs with two centuries and three half-centuries in only six games. At the age of 19 years only, Brevis is getting compared to AB de Villiers’ stance of batting. The ‘Baby AB’ from South Africa also displayed his high voltage batting in the early games for MI. He only got a chance to showcase his skills in six games but he made some of them count. With 161 runs in seven matches, his average remains just 23.00 but his strike rate was over 140. With the highest score of 49, Brevis really made it look good in the middle order but started giving away his wicket later in the tournament. It will be interesting to see how this future star performs in his next stint in IPL. 6. Riyan Parag (20) Riyan Parag (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI) Riyan Parag is also the find of the 2018 U19 WC squad of India. A right-handed all-rounder, Parag added a lot of value in the batting department of Rajasthan this season. He made his IPL debut in 2019 when he was bought by Rajasthan Royals for INR 20 lakh in the third and final round of the player auction before IPL 2019. Parag hails from Assam and has performed as more of a go-to fielder than a bowler. He only has one wicket as he went expensive on the four occasions he bowled. In the 17 matches, he scored 183 runs at an average of 16.63 and a strike rate of 138.63 this season. While he did not score many runs in the IPL 2020 and even in 2021, RR has shown faith in his abilities by buying him back at the mega auction for a whopping INR 3.80 cr. He has given back more to his team while holding on to some unbelievable catches. 7. Wanindu Hasaranga (24) Wanindu Hasaranga. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI) Wanindu Hasaranga was one of the leading wicket-takers this season. The leg spinner from Sri Lanka has consistently impressed his side and surprised the opposition batsmen. RCB went all guns blazing for the youngster, who took a hattrick in the recently concluded 2021 T20 World Cup and paid INR 10.75 cr. He is also a decent lower middle-order batter. For RCB he scalped 26 wickets in 16 matches. His economy was also well in line at 7.4. He also took a fifer and registered his best bowling figures of 5/18. Wanindu was added to the RCB squad to give it the right balance. Surely as a bowler, he managed to provide that edge to his side. The leg-spinner is one of the players to watch out for in international cricket as well. 8. Rashid Khan (23) Rashid Khan (Photo Source: Twitter) Rashid Khan has been one of the most lethal spinners over the years in all forms of the game. The rise of Afghanistan cricket can also be directly linked to Khan’s unplayable spin in the international arena. He made his IPL debut in 2017 at the age of 19 and since has left his mark in almost every game he has played. Arguably the best leg-spinner in white-ball cricket, Rashid Khan was drafted in the Gujarat Titans squad for INR 15 crore ahead of the IPL 2022 Mega Auction. Under the circumstances he grew up and trained in, Khan displays a pure show of grit and talent. He took 21 wickets in the 2018 edition for SRH and took the team to the finals as well. This year, Khan picked 19 wickets at an economy of 6.59. He was also responsible for an unbelievable chase alongside Rahul Tewatia for Gujarat where he had hit consecutive sixes to take his side home. 9. Maheesh Theekshana (21) Maheesh Theekshana. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI) Another Sri Lankan rising star, Maheesh Theekshana is a right arm mystery spinner. He made his way in the IPL 2022 with CSK buying him for Rs. 70 lakh in the mega auction. The 21-year-old didn’t get enough games to play In the nine games, he bagged 12 scalps this season. With an economy of over seven, Theekshana can bowl well in between powerplays. His best figures of 4/33 also suggest his wicket-taking abilities can come in handy. He is also one of the new finds for Sri Lanka and can work out well for them. For Chennai, if given time Theekshana will also rise up well on occasions while bowling. It will be interesting how the franchise will utilize him in the coming years. 10. Umran Malik (22) Umran Malik. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI) The speedster from Jammu and Kashmir got all the attention of the fans this season. While Indian cricket has always been in a drought of bowlers who can consistently bowl over 140 kmph, Umran Malik has emerged as the one to serve for a long time. Malik bowled the second fastest delivery of the season, 157 kmph, and clocked over the 150-kph mark consistently. His deliveries now lack the line and length but certainly not the speed. Although he is predictable at times, still he contests to become one of the bowlers to watch out for, for India. At the age of 22 years, he has a clean bowling action with effortlessly bowling over 150. In IPL 2022, he played 13 matches. With 21 wickets to his name, he justified his tag of Rs. 4 cr. His economy was over eight and the youngster still has time to work on that. 11. Arshdeep Singh (23) Arshdeep Singh. (Photo Source: Twitter/IPL) The right-arm pacer from Punjab, Arshdeep Singh played this season with emotion for his side and grit to prove something. His bowling in the death overs especially made him a player to look out for. Singh was very economical in the slog overs and the selectors rewarded him for his effort by picking him for South Africa T20Is. The 23-year-old is also a product of the 2018 U19 WC winning squad of India. The tall bowler is known to use his 6’3” frame to his advantage. Singh has been playing for Punjab since his debut in 2019. He has been retained by the franchise following his ever-rising form. Ahead of the mega auction, Arshdeep was one of the players PBKS invested its trust in. This season also went pretty well for the youngster. Though he picked only 10 wickets in 14 matches, his economy of 7.7 despite bowling tough overs was one of the best.

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IPL 2022: Youngest XI of the tournament

These youngsters fared well for their respective teams in IPL 2022.

9. Maheesh Theekshana (21)

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