LISTICLE
Follow UsThe 25-year-old wicketkeeper is a no-nonsense batter. Gujarat Titans bought him in the last auction but he didn’t get a single game. The right-hander can score runs at a rapid pace in the powerplay, and that’s what he has been doing for Gujarat in the last two years. In the last two editions of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT), Urvil has an average of 38.8 and a strike rate of 186.54 in the powerplay.
Amongst batters who faced at least 100 deliveries across this phase, no one had a better strike rate than Urvil. Abhishek Sharma, with 155.6, is second on the list. He has been in blistering form of late, getting scores of 100* off 41, 86 off 83 and 116 off 93 in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Urvil can be used as a pinch-hitter in the powerplay, but an average of 41.5 in List-A Cricket is enough to tell you he can bat long if and when needed.
The wicketkeeper-batter has been a prolific run-scorer for Saurashtra in the last couple of years. The 24-year-old was at his absolute best in this year’s SMAT, smashing 336 runs in seven innings at an average of 67.2 and a strike rate of 175. Not once in seven innings did he have a strike rate below 154.
Apart from knocks of 41 off 22, 81 off 51 and 61 off 39, Desai even managed to slam an unbeaten 55-ball 104, his maiden T20 hundred. Desai has been doing well across all three formats and could at least serve as a perfect back-up wicketkeeper-batter.
The fast-bowling all-rounder from Hyderabad has been around for a while but is yet to make his IPL debut. The 29-year-old is a rare breed and offers something that not too many domestic players do. Primarily a bowler, Teja has claimed 29 wickets @ 12.1 and an economy of 7.5 in the last two seasons of the SMAT.
In eight out of his last 12 innings, the right-arm seamer has taken two or more wickets. He hasn’t done much with the bat in this format but has an average of more than 30 in the other two (List-A and First-Class). If and when needed, Teja can be used as an anchor in the middle-order. He could be a decent No. 9 if used properly.
We all know how IPL Auctions work. There’s always some recency bias when it comes to picking up players, and Arslan could rightly benefit from it. The 24-year-old batter hasn’t played a single competitive T20 match in the last three years but has been phenomenal in the other two formats, especially in List-A cricket.
In the 2023 Vijay Hazare Trophy, the left-handed opener smoked 508 runs in seven innings @ 84.66 and an SR of 105.39. He had two centuries and four fifties in the tournament. One of those hundreds came against Karnataka’s strong bowling unit.
Arslan, who plays for Chandigarh, averages 66.83 in List-A cricket. He has only featured in two T20s and that too came in January 2021. He got 56 runs at a strike rate of 200, but surprisingly hasn’t played a T20 since then for Chandigarh. Arslan has the potential to succeed in the 20-over format, and at least a couple of teams would be keeping a close eye on him.
The 30-year-old, who made his debut for Tripura in 2009, has transformed himself into a reliable fast-bowling all-rounder in the last couple of years. The right-arm seamer has claimed 12 wickets at an economy of 6.5 in the last seasons of the SMAT. He has also improved a lot with the bat, scoring 123 runs @ 24.6 and an SR of 138.2 in the 2023 edition.
Recently, Murasingh smoked 55* off 26 deliveries and picked up four wickets to help Tripura upset Mumbai in a VHT encounter. He has also been averaging more than 31 in List-A cricket since 2022 and has gone about his business at a strike rate of 108.6. Not a bad No. 8 to have on your T20 side, and his knack for being consistent is a USP.
Another one of those upcoming fast-bowling all-rounders. The 25-year-old played a key role in helping Baroda qualify for the 2023 SMAT final. Apart from scoring 123 runs in five innings at a strike rate of 136.7, he also picked up nine wickets at a strike rate of 15.3, including a four-wicket haul in the semi-final against in-form Assam.
He even smashed 61 off 42 in the finale against Punjab, but it was still not enough to take Baroda over the line. In the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Abhimanyu scored 244 runs at an average of 61 and a strike rate of more than 100. He would most likely draw attention at the auction. After all, who doesn’t like a fast-bowling all-rounder?
While everyone wants to bat in the top-order, Dubey is someone who bats in the middle and plays those game-changing cameos. That’s what he has been doing for Vidarbha in the last two years. Since 2022, the left-hander has hit 401 runs in 15 innings at an average of 44.56 and a strike rate of 150.8.
It was his unbeaten 20-ball 58 that helped Vidarbha chase down 212 against Bengal in the 2023 SMAT.
