Future of Indian cricket:Sooryavanshi broke Gayle’s 14-year-old record; Prince bowled Kohli, Praful dismissed Vaibhav twice

The IPL final will be played today in Ahmedabad between the Royal Challengers Bengaluru and the Gujarat Titans. In this season, many uncapped players played a crucial role in their teams’ victories with their performances. Young stars like Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Prince Yadav, Praful Hinge, and Ayush Mhatre were in the news. In this story, we feature 10 such uncapped Indian players who could debut for Team India in the coming time. 1. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Rajasthan Royals Bihar’s 15-year-old left-hand batter Vaibhav Sooryavanshi set a flurry of records in IPL 2026. Having made the youngest IPL debut and scored the fastest Indian century last season, Vaibhav scored 776 runs in 16 matches this time. His strike rate was 237.30, and he scored 1 century and 5 half-centuries. Rajasthan Royals bought him for ₹1.10 crore in the 2025 mega auction. Vaibhav made his Ranji Trophy debut at the age of 12 and has also been a part of India’s Under-19 team. Vaibhav scored 5 fifties in 20 balls or less. This season, he scored a century in 36 balls. However, his most memorable performance came in the playoff eliminator, when he smashed 97 runs off just 29 balls against Hyderabad. In this innings, he hit 12 sixes and broke Chris Gayle’s record for hitting the most sixes in an IPL season. He now holds the record for hitting 72 sixes. Vaibhav then scored 96 runs off 47 balls against the Gujarat Titans in Qualifier-2. However, the Rajasthan Royals lost that match and failed to reach the final. At the age of 15, he also became the first batter to score 600+ runs in a season. 2. Ayush Mhatre, Chennai Super Kings Mumbai’s 18-year-old opener Ayush Mhatre could only play 6 matches in this IPL due to injury. In these, he scored 201 runs at a strike rate of 177.87. Ayush made his first-class debut for Mumbai at the age of 17 and scored a century in his third match of the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy season. At the end of 2024, he set a record for being the youngest batsman to score 150+ runs in List-A cricket by scoring 181 runs off 117 balls in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Ayush remained unsold in the IPL 2025 mega auction, but was included in the team as a replacement player after Chennai Super Kings captain Ruturaj Gaikwad got injured. He made his IPL and T20 debut at the Wankhede Stadium against Mumbai. Ayush, who took the field as CSK’s youngest player, showed a glimpse of his talent by scoring 32 runs off 15 balls in his very first innings. 3. Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Kolkata Knight Riders Angkrish, born in Delhi, moved to Mumbai at the age of 11. Here, he trained under the supervision of former Indian cricketer Abhishek Nayar and coach Omkar Salvi. Subsequently, he made Mumbai his permanent home. In the 2023-24 season, he made his List-A and T20 debut for Mumbai. Recognising his talent, Kolkata signed him for ₹20 lakh in the IPL 2024 auction. 21-year-old Raghuvanshi was part of the Indian team that won the 2022 Under-19 World Cup. Angkrish scored 422 runs in 13 matches in IPL 2026 and hit 5 half-centuries. His strike rate was 146.52. During this season, Angkrish played the role of a steadying influence, taking the innings to the end after early wickets fell on several occasions. 4. Mukul Choudhary, Lucknow Super Giants Rajasthan’s 21-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman Mukul Choudhary made a name for himself with his aggressive batting. Mukul, who showed excellent performance at the Under-23 level, scored 173 runs in 5 innings at a strike rate of 198.85 in the 2025-26 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Impressed by this performance, Lucknow Super Giants bought him for ₹2.60 crore in the IPL 2026 auction. Mukul scored 170 runs in 10 matches in his debut IPL season, which included one half-century. Against Kolkata, Mukul played a memorable knock of his IPL career. He scored an unbeaten 54 runs off just 27 balls, which included 7 sixes. Thanks to this innings played at a strike rate of 200, Lucknow Super Giants secured a thrilling victory on the last ball. His ability to finish matches under pressure has earned him a place among the young finishers. 5. Prince Yadav, Lucknow Super Giants Delhi’s 24-year-old fast bowler Prince Yadav made his mark this season with his yorkers. Prince first gained recognition in the 2024 Delhi Premier League, where he took 13 wickets in 10 matches playing for the Old Delhi-6 team captained by Rishabh Pant. In his first T20 match against Uttar Pradesh in the 2024-25 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, he impressed by taking the wickets of batsmen like Nitish Rana and Sameer Rizvi. The very next day, Lucknow Super Giants bought him for ₹30 lakh in the IPL mega auction. In IPL 2026, Prince took 16 wickets in 14 matches. His economy was 8.82, while his best performance was 3/32. He made an impact with both the new ball and in death overs. The most talked-about moment of the season for Prince came when he clean bowled Virat Kohli with his length pace delivery. Prince Yadav has been selected for the Indian team in the ODI series against Afghanistan. 6. Rasikh Salam Dar, Royal Challengers Bengaluru The cricketing journey of 25-year-old Jammu and Kashmir fast bowler Rasikh Salam has been a story of struggle, controversy, and a brilliant comeback. Rasikh, who made his IPL debut at the age of 17, faced challenges like bans and injuries in his career, but he never gave up. Royal Challengers Bengaluru showed faith in him and retained him for ₹6 crore in 2025, even without him stepping onto the field. Rasikh justified this trust of the franchise with a brilliant performance in IPL 2026. He took 16 wickets in 11 matches and bowled effectively from the new ball to the death overs. This season, against Lucknow, Rasikh delivered the best spell of his IPL career. He took 4 wickets for 24 runs. Rasikh made a name for himself in Bengaluru despite having world-class bowlers like Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood. 7. Sakib Hussain, Sunrisers Hyderabad The mother of 21-year-old fast bowler Sakib Hussain, a resident of Gopalganj, Bihar, even sold her jewellery to buy professional bowling spikes. He made a name for himself with excellent performances in domestic cricket. Kolkata selected him for IPL 2024, but Sakib did not get a chance to play a single match. After being released, the next season, Hyderabad bid ₹30 lakh for him in the IPL 2026 auction, and Sakib completely justified this trust. Sakib consistently troubled batsmen with his swing, yorkers, and slower balls. He took 15 wickets in 11 matches. Saqib made his IPL debut memorable against Rajasthan, taking 4 wickets for 24 runs. Additionally, he showcased his ability by clean bowling Shivam Dube against the Chennai Super Kings, while at the end of the season, he grabbed headlines by taking the wicket of Virat Kohli against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru. 8. Praful Hinge, Sunrisers Hyderabad 24-year-old fast bowler Praful Hinge, hailing from Vidarbha, Maharashtra, emerged as the biggest surprise package of IPL 2026. In red-ball cricket, he had shown his potential by taking 27 wickets in just 10 first-class matches, but he didn’t have much experience in T20 cricket. Sunrisers Hyderabad included him in their team for 30 lakh rupees in the IPL 2026 auction. Amidst experienced bowlers like Pat Cummins and Harshal Patel, Praful got an opportunity to learn and hone his skills. He made full use of this opportunity and surprised everyone by taking 14 wickets in just 7 matches. Praful made his IPL debut against the Rajasthan Royals in a historic clash. He created a record by becoming the first bowler in IPL history to take three wickets in the first over, by dismissing Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel, and Lhuan-dre Pretorius in the very first over of the match. After this, he again took 3 wickets against Rajasthan in the Eliminator of the playoffs. In the same match, he took the wicket of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who had scored 97 runs off 29 balls, dismissing Vaibhav twice in one season. 9. Brijesh Sharma, Rajasthan Royals 27-year-old young fast bowler from Jammu and Kashmir, Brijesh Sharma, proved to be the biggest surprise package of IPL 2026. Brijesh, who bowls at a speed of more than 140 kmph, proved himself by taking 11 wickets in 7 matches in the 2025 Bengal Pro T20 League, after which Rajasthan Royals bought him for his base price of 30 lakh rupees in the IPL 2026 auction. Interestingly, when Rajasthan gambled on him, he had not yet made his senior-level debut in any format. Brijesh justified this trust by taking 14 wickets in 13 matches. Brijesh’s most memorable performance came against the Gujarat Titans. Shubman Gill hit him for a six, but Brijesh took Gill’s wicket on the very next ball. Brijesh’s biggest strength is his bowling in the middle overs. He constantly mixes both pace and slower balls. 10. Yash Raj Punja, Rajasthan Royals IPL 2026 was not a season for spinners. But Rajasthan gave 19-year-old leg-spinner Yash Raj Punja from Karnataka a chance to play ahead of Ravi Bishnoi. Yash proved it right by taking 9 wickets. Rajasthan bought him for ₹30 lakh in the auction. 6 feet 5 inches tall, Yash gained a distinct identity due to his high release point and googly. His most memorable moment was against the Punjab Kings. He dismissed key batsmen like Prabhsimran Singh and Cooper Connolly, leading Rajasthan to victory. Against Lucknow, his googly hit the timber against Josh Inglis, which was considered one of the best spin deliveries of the season. Before that, he took his first IPL wicket against the Kolkata Knight Riders, for which commentator Ian Bishop also highly praised him. Kartik Sharma and Shivang Kumar also in spotlight In IPL 2026, besides these 10 players, many young Indians impressed. These included players like Kartik Sharma from Chennai, Prashant Veer, Salil Arora from Hyderabad, Aniket Verma, and Chinaman Shivang Kumar. But Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s record-breaking batting and Prince Yadav’s success against big players gave them a distinct identity from the rest. In the coming 12-18 months, many of these players might don the Indian team jersey.