IPL debutants who set the stage ablaze in the league phase

The league stage of IPL 2017 has come to a halt. After almost 6 weeks of jam-packed action, four teams will progress through to the playoffs while the rest four disembark from the tournament. As many as 56 games were played in the league stages and Mumbai Indians have managed to be the No. 1 team after all these games. Rising Pune Supergiant, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders will be the rest three teams who will lock horns with each other to get their hands on the IPL trophy. The stark contrast in this edition of the IPL was that the wickets were sporting and viewers witnessed a lot of low-scoring clashes. Spinners were less effective this year as the faster men have been amongst the wickets more often. Scores in the bracket of 150-170 were difficult to chase on a few occasions which made the cricket more interesting. Every IPL provides young cricketers with a platform to express themselves and this year was no different. Franchises bided rigorously at the IPL auctions in February to acquire the players they thought will suit to their scheme of things. IPL 2017 saw a lot of players make their debut in the cash-rich tournament with some of them making a name for themselves in the first year itself. We bring you a list of debutants who did well for their respective teams this year: 1. Ben Stokes Ben Stokes. (Photo Source: Twitter) A lot had been spoken about Stokes when RPS succumbed to three defeats in their first four games this year. The all-rounder took his time to settle in but made sure that he was worth every penny spent on him. Stokes came in with a lot of reputation into the tournament and he did not disappoint. Though he won’t play any further for RPS in the playoffs, Stokes did his bit to help his side qualify in the last four. The 26-year-old bowled exceptionally well throughout the tournament and gave his skipper Smith two overs in the death almost every game he played in. His economy rate of 7.18 in the 12 games he played is exceptionally good in today’s day and age. He picked 12 sticks in as many games, showing his arsenal variations in the middle overs. Stokes was also expected to come good with the bat. After hitting a 32-ball fifty in his second appearance, Stokes largely struggled to vindicate the huge price tag he was carrying in the tournament. He turned it around by hitting a memorable match-winning 103* against Gujarat Lions to end speculations about his batting ability in this format. All in all, Stokes was heavily responsible for RPS’ revival in IPL 2017. 2. Chris Woakes Chris Woakes. (Photo Source: Twitter) Like his countryman Stokes, Woakes too was acquired for the first time in the IPL. The English all-rounder was snapped by 2-time champions KKR to give their side the right balance. He played all but one game this season for his franchise and finished with 17 wickets. He was Gautam Gambhir’s go-to-bowler on many occasions. The only concerning aspect about Woakes’ brilliant debut season was his economy rate which hovered over 9 runs an over in the first stage of the IPL. However, he adapted brilliantly during the second stage of the tournament and got it down to 8.77 which is acceptable if you are picking wickets as a fast bowler. The 28-year old will be disappointed with his efforts with the bat lower down the order. Woakes has a tremendous ability with the bat but an average of 11.5 and strike rate of below 100 this year hardly highlights his talents. To be fair to him, he batted way too low down the order and had very few balls to play to make an impact. 3. Rashid Khan Rashid Khan of Sunrisers Hyderabad. (Photo Source: Twitter) The 18-year-old had a remarkable IPL debut season for Sunrisers Hyderabad. Rashid had done well for his country but his performances were against low ranked sides and doubts were raised about his effectiveness in top flight cricket against the best players in the world. The Afghan spinner came out with flying colours as he did exceeding well for SRH. Warner bowled him in the powerplays more often than not and Rashid always was equal to the task. He did not go for runs and in turn, picked a wicket regularly whenever he was asked to bowl in the fielding restrictions. With 17 wickets in 13 games at an economy rate of 6.67, Rashid is currently the fifth highest wicket taker in the competition. Apart from his nagging leg-spin bowling, Rashid was a livewire in the field and patrolled the boundaries like a veteran international cricketer. He will again play a major role in the playoffs for Sunrisers Hyderabad. 4. Colin de Grandhomme Colin de Grandhomme. (Photo Source: Twitter) While Grandhomme’s numbers this year weren’t outstanding, he did a good job for KKR. The fact that he appeared in 11 out of 14 games is a hallmark of his contributions to his franchise in his debut season. He had a big responsibility of replacing Andre Russell in the KKR camp and he did reasonably well for someone who played his first season. The 30-year old produced his best spell against RCB when KKR routed them for 49. The Kiwi all-rounder picked 3/4 to contribute for an unlikely win for his side. Grandhomme’s strike rate of 138.46 was up to the modern-day T20 standards. He did not get too many chances to bowl as Gambhir picked him in the side as a batting all-rounder. All in all, the Kiwi all-rounder will be pleased with his showings in his first season. 5. Rahul Tripathi Rahul Tripathi of Rising Pune Supergiants in action. (Photo: IANS) Tripathi had a distinction of hitting six sixes in an over twice in local tournaments in Pune. He was quickly acquired by RPS ahead of this season. An otherwise middle order batsman, Tripathi was sent to open the innings after Mayank Agarwal’s failed thrice in consecutive innings and the right-hander took to opening like a fish to water. He immediately responded with a 17-ball 33 and went on to notch one good score after another, none better than his 93 against KKR. Tripathi has scored 388 runs in 12 games so far with an amazing strike rate of 150.97. He has been responsible for RPS’ remarkable turnaround this year which has culminated into a berth in the playoffs for the first time ever. With Ajinkya Rahane not contributing up to his lofty standards, Tripathi has made sure that RPS still gets off to good starts. 6. Basil Thampi Basil Thampi. (Photo Source: Twitter) Gujarat Lions have already crashed out of the tournament but they have unearthed a unique fast bowling talent in Basil Thampi. His haul of 11 wickets off 12 games in his debut IPL season includes wickets of Chris Gayle, MS Dhoni, Kieron Pollard, Virat Kohli and Hashim Amla among others. That is quite a list of wickets to get in your first season. Thampi has impressed many with his raw pace and the ability to bowl yorkers at the death. This Kerala lad is one for the future and will have to be groomed in the right way to ensure that he achieves greater heights in his career. With time, Thampi will definitely improve on his economy rate of 9.49 – his economy rate in IPL 2017. 7. Mohammed Siraj Mohammed Siraj. (Photo: IANS) Like Thampi, Siraj too was impressive with pace and the skill of bowling full and straight at the death. Hailing from Hyderabad, Siraj was fetched by defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad at a huge price of 2.6 crores, more than 10 times the base price he had set for himself. With the presence of bowlers like Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashish Nehra and Siddharth Kaul; Siraj got just 6 games to play this year but he picked 10 wickets in these games to prove his credentials. With Nehra nursing an injury, Siraj might get another chance to impress in the playoffs. He has a good strong body and the right attitude for a fast bowler. His haul of 4/32 in SRH’s last league game ensured that they qualified for the playoffs and the Hyderabadi was awarded the Man of the Match award for his fine contributions.

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IPL debutants who set the stage ablaze in the league phase

We bring you to a list of 7 players who shone in their debut season in the IPL.

4. Colin de Grandhomme

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