5 Indian players who might make their international debut in 2022

India is a home for new cricketing talents and is the most populated cricket-playing country. To make a place in the Indian playing eleven is one of the toughest tasks in India. Almost every second Indian boy is playing cricket and dreaming of wearing the Indian jersey one day. It demands a lot of courage, self-belief, and luck to make it to the Indian dug-out.

Cricket is the most demanding career in India and has produced some world-class players who ruled international cricket. Some of the great players in the domestic circuit have failed to perform at the highest level. Cricketing talent in India was good from the start but the addition of the Indian Premier League was the cherry on the cake. The IPL has produced some fine cricketers for India.

Receiving the Indian cap is a dream of every cricketer playing in the lands of India. In recent times some Indian debutants have been making the headlines across the globe. 2021 was full of debutants for India who have a brilliant record in domestic and franchise cricket. The addition of two more IPL teams is expected to be an excellent step to find some more talents.

Let’s talk about 5 players who might make their debut in 2022 for India and can be the next big thing in Indian cricket

1. Avesh Khan

The Madhya Pradesh pacer was the second-highest wicket-taker in IPL 2021. He can move the new ball consistently and has variations to succeed in death overs too. When he is in rhythm, he can click the 140 km/h mark consistently. He can bowl both off-cutters and leg-cutters and has a wide variety of slower balls.

He made his Ranji Trophy debut in the 2014-15 season and was the highest wicket-taker for Madhya Pradesh in the 2018-19 Ranji Trophy season with 35 wickets in seven games. In the 2018 IPL season, he was picked by Delhi Capitals (then Delhi Daredevils) for INR 75 lakhs. He has been a consistent performer in domestic tournaments.

The 25-year old had a great IPL season in 2021 playing for Delhi Capitals. His overall IPL numbers are also very good picking 29 wickets in 25 games at an average of 25.83. He was in the 2014 India Under-19 World Cup squad as well. His great performances got him a place in the Indian cricket team for the T20I series against New Zealand but he is yet to make his debut.

2. Arzan Nagwaswalla

Arzan Nagwaswalla is a cricketer who plays for Gujarat in Indian domestic tournaments. He is a left-arm pacer and mostly suitable for the longest format of the game. His ability to bowl at decent line and length makes him different from the other Indian fast bowlers. He is yet to make a name for himself in domestic cricket.

In February 2018, he made his List A debut for Gujarat in the 2017-18 Vijay Hazare Trophy. The same year in November he also got a chance to represent them in the Ranji Trophy which followed his T20 debut in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in February 2019. He was quite impressive in those seasons.

He was named as one of the four standby players in India’s squad for the 2021 ICC World Test Championship and then the England series after that. Since then he is with the Indian Test squad but is yet to play a game. He can put the find of a good left-arm pacer for India after Zaheer Khan to rest.

3. Shahrukh Khan

Sharing a name with one of the biggest Indian stars, Shahrukh Khan will undoubtedly make his own strong identity. He is a strong guy who can slog the cricket ball to 75-80 yards effortlessly. He can bat in the middle order or the lower order middle order and his main ability is increasing the rate of scoring runs when needed.

He made his List A debut a long time ago in the 2013-14 Vijay Hazare Trophy. He was quite late to make it to the Ranji Trophy side but he finally did it in the 2018-19 season. He hails from Tamil Nadu and represents the same team in domestic cricket. He impressed the cricket pundits in The Tamil Nadu Premier League.

He was part of the winning Tamil Nadu side in the 2021 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. He scored 40 runs off just 19 balls in the quarter-final against Himachal Pradesh. He was with Punjab Kings in the IPL and has shown a lot of promise since his underage cricket days. He is highly expected to feature in the India camp soon.

4. Saurabh Kumar

He is one of the lesser-known domestic cricketers in India but he is performing consistently well. Saurabh Kumar is a left-arm orthodox spinner from Uttar Pradesh who can also contribute with the bat. He started his domestic cricket career playing for the Services but he later joined the Uttar Pradesh side. He was once employed with the Indian Air Force as well.

He was the leading wicket-taker for Uttar Pradesh in the 2017-18 Ranji Trophy with 23 wickets in just eight innings. He was also with the Rising Pune Supergiant in the 2017 IPL season. In one game in the 2018-19 Ranji Trophy season against Haryana, he took 14 wickets which remains the second-best bowling figures by any Uttar Pradesh bowler. In that tournament, he ended up with 51 wickets in 10 games.

He was named as one of the five net bowlers for India in the home series against England and was picked as one of the reserve players in the Test Series in South Africa. Punjab Kings made a bid for him in the 2021 IPL auction and he was in their camp for that season. He desires to represent India one day.

5. Ravi Bishnoi

The leg-spinner who keeps the attitude of a fast bowler, Ravi Bishnoi has been in talks since the 2020 Under-19 World Cup. He alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal was the most-talked about talents from the squad. He was the highest wicket-taker in the 2020 Under-19 World Cup with 17 dismissals to his name.

The wrist-spinner made his T20 debut for Rajasthan in the 2018-19 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The following year he made his List A debut in 2019-20 Vijay Hazare Trophy for Rajasthan. His arm speed is quite quick as compared to the other leg-spinners and he surprises the batters with his googly which is quite difficult to pick because of his action.

He was given an IPL contract by Punjab Kings in the 2020 season and he ended the tournament with 12 wickets. He was also a contender to win the Emerging Player Award in that season. He played in the 2021 season too with Punjab Kings. With the 2022 ICC T20 World Cup coming, India might try him as one of the leg-spin options in T20 cricket.