5 Uncapped players who can lead IPL franchises if given a chance

The Indian Premier League every year brings a bundle of opportunities for the young cricketing talents around the globe. Ever since its inception, the tournament has brought a kind of revolution in the domestic circuit. The league has made it easier for the prodigies to earn fame and limelight with the help of their flair and aptitude. One of the best examples of this is the current Indian bowling sensation Jasprit Bumrah, who was initially nurtured by the Mumbai Indians management and has eventually went on to become the spine of the Indian team.

The league has now started giving platforms to the players and has made the path to success a lot more uncomplicated. Processes like the Mega Auction and Trade Window also make sure that the players get a deserving amount of money for their adroitness. One of the main reasons behind the fame of players like Rishab Pant, Ishan Kishan and Shubman Gill has been the IPL itself.

Many uncapped players have also been able to earn a lot prominence because of the league and are on the verge of leading their IPL franchise even though they are yet to make their debut for India.

Here, we’ll have a look at some uncapped players who might go on to lead their respective IPL team in future

1. Ishan Kishan – Mumbai Indians

Ishan Kishan is one of the hottest properties going around in the Indian domestic circuit, at the moment. The lad has earned an enormous amount of fame with the help of his terrific batting and is just a few steps away from making his international debut for India. He is currently the captain of his home side Jharkhand in the Ranji Trophy.

In the Indian Premier League, the 21-year-old currently plays for the Mumbai Indians and is one of the most integral parts of the team. In the 18 innings he has played for the team, the Southpaw has scored a total of 376 runs at an impressive strike rate of 132.39.

The franchise, at this moment, is being successfully led by Rohit Sharma, however, in future, we might be able to see the Patna-born shouldering the mantle of the IPL side as he has an experience of leading India at the U19 stage.

2. Nitish Rana – Kolkata Knight Riders

Nitish Rana is a batsman with huge potential. The Southpaw is one of the rising stars of India at present and is likely to be a part of India’s upcoming WT20 campaign. For his IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders, he’s a wonderful middle-order batsman and has proved out to be very handy with the ball as well.

Rana has played a total of 29 games for KKR, wherein, he has scored a total of 648 runs at an average of 28.17 and strike rate of around 140. His valiant 85* against the Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 12 remains one of the highlights of his career.

Meanwhile, the Kolkata Knight Riders are currently facing a crisis in the captaincy department as Dinesh Karthik’s career is on a downhill. Hence, they would like to preserve the 25-year-old Nitish Rana, who can turn out to be a contender for captaincy in the future.

3. Dhruv Shorey – Chennai Super Kings

CSK’s plans for their future endeavours are still unknown. With MS Dhoni’s retirement around the corner, the team doesn’t only requires a responsible batsman and a reliable wicket-keeper but also a captain who can manage the players in the same manner. Although a few names like Suresh Raina and Faf Du Plessis pop up for this post, there’s no denying to this fact that both these guys are past their prime.

As a result, one suitable name that appears at this point of time is of Dhruv Shorey. The lad is young, solid as well as talented. He is quite skilled and is highly blessed with textbook techniques and has been one of the backbones of his home team Delhi in the First-Class cricket.

The 27-year-old has shown consistency across formats and has shown glimpses of glory in the Indian Premier League as well. Hence, it will be a no-brainer if the Chennai Super Kings invest in this extremely-talented bloke and go on to handover him the leadership duties in the future.

4. Krishnappa Gowtham – Rajasthan Royals

Krishnappa Gowtham’s career is on a roll at the moment. In a game of the recently-concluded Karnataka Premier League, the 30-year-old performed exceptionally well as he struck a total of 8 wickets and scored a 56-ball, 134 in the same game. Just a few days ago, he also played a huge role behind Karnataka’s victory against Jharkhand in Vijay Hazare Trophy.

In the IPL as well, Gowtham has done a fine job for the Rajasthan Royals as in the 17 games he has played, the Karnataka-born has scored 144 runs and struck 12 wickets. The Rajasthan-based-franchise’s inability to perform on big occasions isn’t hidden from anyone. Moreover, despite having a strong squad, the team hasn’t been able to win anything apart from the wooden spoon in the past few years.

A large factor behind this is the team’s extreme reliability on the overseas options. Thus, to improve their fortunes, the franchise would like to appoint an Indian as the skipper of the side and for this, Gowtham seems a suitable option.

5. Deepak Hooda – Sunrisers Hyderabad

Deepak Hooda began his IPL career with the Rajasthan Royals. However, later on, he went on to play for the Sunrisers Hyderabad and there has been no looking back for the lad since then. He’s one of the promising batsmen in the middle-order and can act as a finisher in the death overs as well.

In the 36 innings he has played for SRH hitherto, the 24-year-old has scored more than 300 runs and has struck some wickets as well.  Hooda is known for his brilliant fielding as well.

Even though he has twice been selected in the Indian team, the Haryana-born is yet to get an international cap. Hence, if the Sunrisers are in need of uncapped players who can lead their team, Deepak Hooda will certainly be a good option.