IPL 2020: The Pre-tournament Best Uncapped Players 11

Suryakumar Yadav to lead the team as we find the pre-tournament top-rated uncapped 11 for IPL 2020.

The role of uncapped players in an IPL is something that can never be overlooked. For any team to go all the way to the podium, having a strong bench and variety is of utmost importance. For the same reason, every year, uncapped players are cherished at the auction. That aside, for the uncapped cricketers too, they cannot discover a bigger platform than the IPL to fulfil their life aspirations.

IPL 2019 exposed us to many new talents, and if not for the COVID-19 pandemic, by now, we would have feasted on some scintillating performances by the uncapped players in IPL 2020. Nevertheless, the show must go on, and with a strong possibility of the competition happening this year, these players can still gear up for the exposé. With this in mind, in this article, we explore the pre-tournament top-rated uncapped 11 for IPL 2020.

Openers:

Yashasvi Jaiswal (RR) || Rahul Tripathi (KKR)

If there is one uncapped player for whom the fans are eagerly waiting, it has to be Yashasvi Jaiswal. At the age of 19, the teenager has been scoring runs in bulk in whatever opportunity he has got so far, and that’s why Rajasthan Royals procured him by shelling INR 2400L at the Auction.

The highlight of his career so far has been the performance at the U19 World Cup, where he was awarded as the player of the tournament. Not to forget, his 203 runs off 154 balls in the Vijay Hazare Trophy last year was also equally influential in raising his stakes as an attacking batsman. We are too excited to see Yashasvi bat alongside Jos Buttler in IPL 2020.

Joining Yashasvi would be Maharashtra’s Rahul Tripathi. Having featured for Rajasthan Royals in the last two seasons, Rahul will play for KKR in 2020. Although he looked out of touch in the previous two editions where he batted in the lower middle-order, Rahul’s credentials as an attacking opening batsman remain intact.

Rahul has a career strike-rate of 137.31 and going by his performance in 2017, there is an abundance of talent there. It is only a matter of using Tripathi top the order to get going. Additionally, there are other opening uncapped batsmen including RCB duo – Devdutt Padikkal and  Josh Philippe, and CSK’s Ruturaj Gaikwad to watch-out for. 

Middle-order:

Nitish Rana (KKR) || Ishan Kishan (WK) (MI) || Suryakumar Yadav (C) (MI)

Nitish Rana might not have done well in last year’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, but for what he has shown us in the IPL, Nitish Rana breaks into the best-uncapped XI comfortably. With 344 runs at a strike-rate of 146.38 in the previous season alone, Rana is as significant to KKR’s batting line-up than any other batsmen. Not to forget, Rana’s off-spinners have also been improving lately.

Ishan Kishan’s form may have somewhat dipped in the last few tournaments, but he still remains the best-uncapped wicket-keeper in the competition. Mumbai Indians will be keen to see Ishan repeat his performance of 2018 when he had scored 275 runs at a brilliant strike-rate of 149.45. 

If an uncapped player had to captain a team next season, the only possible option is Suryakumar Yadav. A veteran in the domestic circuit, and the captain of the Mumbai squad for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy last season, SKY possesses a wealth load of experience in this format.

His touch with the bat has been great too. In the SMT, he scored 392 runs from 11 games while in IPL 2019, SKY managed to accumulate 424 runs in 16 games. All of this, he did while playing in the middle-order, which in itself is a challenging task. His role in Mumbai Indians would be a similar one of anchoring the innings at 3 or 4.

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All-rounders:

Riyan Parag (RR) || Krishnappa Gowtham (KXIP)

Riyan Parag broke into the RR set-up in the middle of last season. He played seven games, and scored 160 runs, while also picking two wickets for the IPL 2008 champions. Parag’s cameo last year should get him a good game time next season. Moreover, he is one of the most exciting talents to watch out for in IPL 2020. 

A century and an eight-wicket haul in a single T20 game, followed by the tense defence of a single-digit score in the finals of the SMT, Gowtham’s last one year has been extremely eventful. With a batting strike-rate of 173.49, and a bowling economy of 7.96 in IPL, Gowtham is probably the best-uncapped all-rounder in the competition.

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ALSO READ: IPL 2020: 3 All-rounders who can win the Emerging Player of the Year

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Bowlers:

Shreyas Gopal (RR) || Harshal Patel (DC) || Prasidh Krishna (KKR) || Ankit Rajpoot (RR)

With 19 wickets at an average of 15 in last year’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Shreyas Gopal has been in top form in the T20 format. His IPL 2019 stats are also impressive, as 20 wickets came his way. He is undoubtedly the best uncapped spinner in the tournament. 

In SMT 2019, Haryana’s Harshal Patel had scored the maximum runs and collected the highest wickets for his state. He also did decently well for Delhi Capitals when an opportunity was given. If he replicates this performance in IPL 2020, Delhi Capitals can go a long way. Regarding the backups, the team has options in the form of Abhishek Sharma and Darshan Nalkande.

While there are a plethora of promising uncapped pacers, not all hold the necessary experience to star in this squad. The case is different though for Prasidh Krishna, who led KKR’s domestic pace contingent for his team last year. While he did pick only 4 wickets in 2019, IPL 2018 saw him pick 10 wickets from 7 games. Moreover, he is in good form domestically, which makes him an ideal pick for this squad.

The same is the case with Ankit Rajpoot, who also did well in 2018. He had picked eleven wickets from 8 games, which also included a fifer. In last year’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy too, Ankit had performed well with 12 wickets from 6 games. Some of the other options include Kartik Tyagi, Ishan Porel, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, and Shivam Mavi.

So, that completes our pre-tournament top-rated Uncapped Playing 11 for IPL 2020.

The Pre-tournament Top-rated Uncapped 11 for IPL 2020:

Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Ishan Kishan (WK), Suryakumar Yadav (C), Riyan Parag, Krishnappa Gowtham, Shreyas Gopal, Harshal Patel, Prasidh Krishna, and Ankit Rajpoot.

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