The former Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) President and veteran cricketer Sourav Ganguly has named five players who he believes are the future stars of Indian Premier League (IPL). Ganguly’s top three selections includes two players from Delhi Capitals (DC) and one from Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
The recently appointed DC’s Director of Cricket named Prithvi Shaw ahead of all other players and further chose Rishabh Pant and Ruturaj Gaikwad as his second and third choice. Ganguly also hailed the world’s no.1 T20I batter Suryakumar Yadav as the best in the format but clarified that the latter no longer falls under the category of youngsters.
“The best in the business is Suryakumar Yadav. Obviously, you don’t consider him a youngster anymore, but having said that, among the young players, Prithvi Shaw has a lot of talent in the T20 format, and I think Rishabh Pant. He is only 23 (25). He has got the world at his feet; Rishabh Pant is the No. 2. I would keep a look at Ruturaj Gaikwad, how he keeps playing. I think these are the three batsmen.” said Ganguly in an interaction with Star Sports.
Among the bowlers, Ganguly named Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) fast bowler Umran Malik as his fourth pick.
“Umran Malik is one who will probably, if he stays fit, will continue to keep the fans interested in the game because of his genuine pace.”
Harbhajan Singh, who was present in the studio alongside Irfan Pathan reminded the former India captain of Shubman Gill, to which Ganguly reacted by saying: “Yes exactly, that’s the name which slipped my mind. But I think my fifth player would be Shubman Gill. So, it’s Prithvi Shaw, Rishabh Pant, Surya probably heads the list, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Umran Malik and Shubman Gill.”
Here’s the video:
The countdown to the Indian Premier League is on, and #SouravGanguly has revealed his favourite young guns who will make the #TataIPL bigger and better! 🏏
Who makes it to your list this year? 🤔#IncredibleAwards #IPLonStar pic.twitter.com/k786PYRGwc
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) February 24, 2023
However, the likes of Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson didn’t find a place in Ganguly’s list. Notably, apart from Shaw and Umran, no other player picked by ‘Dada’ was able to perform well in the previous edition of IPL.
