While the Indian Premier League is all about the big Indian names and international stars earning the big bucks, the route to a team’s success runs through its Indian domestic core.
These players, some still finding their feet in big-league cricket and some on the fringes of National team selection, can make a campaign. Opponents often try to target these so-called weak links, but many youngsters ace the challenge to play a crucial role in their teams’ run to the business end of the tournament.
So, it is not surprising that the two finalists, Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad, have been blessed with some fine performances from their domestic cricketers.
While pacers Harshit Rana and Vaibhav Arora have been revelations for KKR, Abhishek Sharma and Nitish Kumar Reddy’s heroics with the bat have been crucial in SRH’s progress.
“It’s been huge. Some youngsters have come through and won us games on their own. Nitish and Abhishek are probably the two biggest examples of guys who are kind of away from the Indian setup but have been fantastic,” said SRH captain Pat Cummins. “I feel like that’s been the story of our team. A lot of guys are taking the game on, putting themselves out there, and having breakout seasons,” added the Australian.
KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer, too, spoke about how the domestic players have been proactive and have played with freedom.
“When these guys come in, the youngsters, especially, are fearless in their approach, and their attitude is headstrong. A lot of them are versatile and enterprising in their approach and proactive,” said Shreyas.
“They want to go out there and perform. So, it’s just that when you give them that sort of freedom and back them during tough times, they deliver the best. And when these guys step up at the right time, they see that they win matches for you,” he explained.
