After celebrating the Rohit Sharma-led Indian cricket team’s triumph in the Champions Trophy as one, it’s time for their vast army of fans to briefly go back to supporting their favourite Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise for a couple of months with the 18th season of the world’s biggest T20 league
set to get underway a week from now.
Kolkata Knight Riders enter this season as the defending champions and will be aiming to close the gap with Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings by winning a second consecutive title and taking their overall tally to four. Both MI and CSK will be fighting to see which team can get to a sixth title first, while Royal Challengers Bengaluru, who face KKR in Match 1, will be desperately hoping 2025 is finally their year after years of anguish.
The spotlight will also be on Sunrisers Hyderabad, the team that had finished runner-up in Pat Cummins’ first season as captain and will be hoping to go the distance this year. It also remains to be seen if the Shreyas Iyer and Ricky Ponting combination can finally help Punjab Kings win the IPL, with the former joining the franchise for a whopping Rs 26.75 crore after helping KKR win the title last season.
Also Read |
IPL 2025: Who’s fit and who is not including fitness updates on Bumrah and Samson
Before the season gets underway, we take a look at some of the younger talents (under 25 years of age) to keep an eye on this season:
Young talents to watch out for in IPL 2025
Vaibhav Suryavanshi (Rajasthan Royals)
Vaibhav Suryavanshi became a household name across the cricket-mad nation after he was sold to Rajasthan Royals for Rs 1.10 crore – becoming the
youngest player in the history of the Indian Premier League at just 13 years of age! The nation that witnessed a young Sachin Tendulkar make his international debut at the age of 16 in Pakistan and go on to have the kind of legendary career that he did will certainly be excited to see if something similar plays out in Suryavanshi’s case.
𝗔 𝗵𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗰 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 #TATAIPLAuction! 👏 👏
𝘿𝙊 𝙉𝙊𝙏 𝙈𝙄𝙎𝙎:
Here’s how the 13-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi – the youngest ever player to be bought in the auction – joined #RR 👌 👌#TATAIPL | @rajasthanroyals pic.twitter.com/eme92pM7jy
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) November 25, 2024
The teenager from Bihar had made his First-Class debut at the age of 12 and had captured the attention of IPL scouts by smashing a 62-ball 104 in a Youth Test against Australia in Chennai just two months before the mega auction in Jeddah. Suryavanshi was also part of the Indian team that finished runners-up in the U-19 Asia Cup in the UAE, scoring 176 runs in five outings at a strike rate of 145.5 – the highest in that event.
Priyansh Arya (Punjab Kings)
There’s a reason why Priyansh Arya triggered a bidding war in the two-day IPL mega auction in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and was eventually bought by PBKS for Rs 3.80 crore despite not making a single appearance either in international cricket or in the IPL till date. And that reason is the
six sixes that he hit in one over during the inaugural Delhi Premier League in August.
That is the kind of firepower that teams generally don’t want to ignore, especially when it comes to the explosive T20 format, and Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bengaluru certainly had their eyes on the 24-year-old before he joined the Kings.
Suryansh Shedge (Punjab Kings)
Arya’s teammate Suryansh Shedge didn’t quite trigger a bidding war in the auction as PBKS bought him at his base price of Rs 30 lakh. Shortly after the auction, however, Shedge would show the the first signs of a star in the making by scoring 131 runs in Mumbai’s victorious Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy campaign at an impressive average of 43.66 and a staggering strike rate of 251.92!
That included an unbeaten 36 off 15 balls in the final against Madhya Pradesh at Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium. It was preceded by another unbeaten 36, off 12 balls in the quarter-final against Vidarbha. The Kings certainly will be hoping to see that kind of form in the IPL this year.
Shaik Rasheed (Chennai Super Kings)
After starring in India’s triumph in the U-19 World Cup in February 2022 as the vice-captain of the team, scoring a crucial 94 in the semi-final against Australia, the 20-year-old Andhra cricketer had been bought by CSK for the 2023 edition at his base price of Rs 20 lakh. Rasheed, however, did not get to make his debut in Dhoni’s final season as captain, in which he led the ‘Yellow Army’ to their fifth title with a victory over Gujarat Titans in the final.
Rasheed returns to CSK after shining in the Andhra Premier League, where he scored 297 runs at an average and strike rate of 59.40 and 140.75 respectively, Rasheed returns to the CSK setup, this time with a price tag of Rs 30 lakh. And this time, under Ruturaj Gaikwad’s leadership, he will hope to make a greater impact.
Swastik Chikara (Royal Challengers Bengaluru)
Swastik Chikara had been bought by RCB at his base price of Rs 30 lakh. The 19-year-old had previously been bought by the Delhi Capitals ahead of the 2024 season, but did not get to make his debut as he spent the two months ferrying drinks and warming the bench.
This time, however, he arrives in the IPL on the back of his heroics in the Uttar Pradesh T20 League, where he finished as the leading run-getter. Chikara, who hails from Ghaziabad, had starred in Meerut Mavericks’ victorious campaign by scoring 499 runs at an average of 49.90 and a whirlwind strike rate of 185.50.
Bevon Jacobs (Mumbai Indians)
Among the overseas youngsters to keep an eye on, South African-born New Zealand middle-order batter Bevon Jacobs, who has 423 T20 runs from 20 appearances to his credit at a strike rate touching 150 (148.42).
“𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 – 𝘵𝘰𝘱 1% 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥, 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘤.”
Bevon Jacobs is counting the days before making the trip to India for the IPL! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/vMUues5iYf
— FanCode (@FanCode) January 28, 2025
The 22-year-old, who was bought by the five-time champions at his base price of Rs 30 lakh, was among the breakout stars of the 2023-24 edition of the Super Smash, in which he scored 134 runs for the Canterbury Kings at a strike rate of 188.73. That included a 20-ball 42 on T20 debut against an Auckland attack comprising New Zealand internationals James Neesham and Ben Lister.
In December, he had
earned his maiden New Zealand call-up for a three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka at home, but ultimately did not get a game.