IPL 2020: 5 youngsters to watch out for

5) Devdutt Padikkal

Devdutt Padikkal

The only Karnataka lad who stands a chance of being in the playing XI for the Royal Challengers Bangalore, Devdutt Padikkal is coming off a dream domestic debut season.

Padikkal, having been the top-scorer in both the Vijay Hazare Trophy and the SMAT Trophy, has been an absolute revelation for the now defending champions of both the tournaments. If that is not enough, his batting style is often compared to that of India's 2011 World Cup hero, Yuvraj Singh.

Though RCB bought him ahead of last year's IPL, Padikkal hasn't gotten a game yet. This might change soon, given his domestic performances.

Padikkal scored an unreal 609 runs in the Vijay Hazare in just 11 games, with 2 centuries and an average of 67.66. Immediately afterwards, he amassed 456 runs in 10 innings with an average of 57 and a surreal strike rate of 171. Padikkal is also flexible with his batting position as he has opened the innings as well as played at numbers 3,4 and 5 for Karnataka.

A young batsman with that kind of flexibility would be a good weapon to have in any captain's armory. Given a chance in this IPL (which he most likely will) Padikkal would be looking to take the league by storm.