Three rising stars of Indian Cricket

At a time when Indian cricket is going to witness their greatest player retire there are 3 young Indian cricketers who have been consistently performing well and grabbing all opportunities coming their way. Although all these cricketers are in their teens their maturity at the crease has been highly praised by one and all. And they are Sanju Samson, Vijay Zol and Baba Aparajith.

SANJU SAMSON:

Among the 3 cricketers in this article Sanju has been the most popular because of his performances for Rajasthan Royals in IPL and Champions League. Although he hails from Kerala, a state without much cricketing background Sanju has been really good with bat and with his wicket keeping gloves for whichever team he has represented. Sanju took the cricketing world by storm with few match winning innings for Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2013 and also won the Emerging player award in this prestigious tournament.

After this tournament Sanju was named Vice-captain of India U-19 team and continued to play crucial role in India U-19 team’s victories. Sanju continued his good form even in the Champions League and was the mainstay in Rajasthan Royals batting department. His breathtaking innings in the finals against Mumbai Indians also earned him a lot of reputation from around the globe. And when his critics termed him to be a player without good performances in domestic circuit he silenced all with his double century for Kerala in the first match of this years Ranji trophy. Many have termed him as the most suitable replacement for Indian skipper MS Dhoni once he retires because of his batting and keeping skills.

VIJAY ZOL:

Few years back, Vijay Zol was chucked out of the school because this cricket – mad boy didn’t have 75 per cent attendance. But from there on he hasn’t looked back in life. He has achieved some milestones like playing for Maharashtra, captaining India U-19 team, becoming a member of India U-19 world cup which won the World cup, representing India A and also becoming part of Royal Challenegers Bangalore in IPL. Zol has been very consistent in his performance and also scored many double centuries. But unlike Sanju, Zol has not received opportunities to play for RCB in IPL and has not been able to produce some fine innings in IPL. Maybe one or two chances in IPL could have earned him much more popularity in Indian cricket.

Vijay Zol also scored a double century in his Ranji trophy debut for Maharashtra. In his first class debut match against New Zealand A, he displayed his outstanding skills when he scored 110 runs in 153 balls. The way he played Mark Gillespie and Doug Bracewell also earned him praises from lots of corners. At a time when the WALL Rahul Dravid has retired from Indian cricket Vijay Zol looks like a very good replacement.

BABA APARAJITH:

At 19, the possibilities are endless for Baba Aparajith, the young Tamil Nadu allrounder who seems to be developing a habit of scoring big runs. In his Duleep Trophy debut , he scored a double-century for South Zone. He then backed it up with a century in the next match for South zone. He was a key member of the highly rated bunch of youngsters who won the Under-19 World Cup in Australia in 2012, Aparajith has gone from strength to strength since that tournament. It didn’t take him much time to land in Tamil Nadu Ranji team, and he fared well with an average close to 40 in eight games.

Aparajith was rewarded for his consistency with a call-up to India A’s limited-overs squad to face West Indies A in Bangalore in September. In his first outing, in the third fifty-over match, he put in a solid performance as an opener, scoring 78 off 96 balls, with most of his runs coming in a 112-run stand with Yuvraj Singh. It was his first ever appearance for India A, and he admitted he felt the pressure. IPL has not been very fruitful for him and thus hasnt been able to gain enough popularity. For a boy of 19, Aparajith has displayed immense clarity of thought and maturity so far. If he carries on in similar fashion, things can only get better.