Over the years, India's Under-19 cricketers have got good money in IPL auctions and it will be no different this time as well when the paddle goes up on February 12 and 13.
The impressive performance of Indian colts in the ongoing Under-19 World Cup in the Caribbean will not only help them in making it into the senior national team, but it will also serve as a pathway to quick fame and potential big money via the cash-rich league.
The current generation, which has grown up watching the IPL, will definitely keep one eye on the auction and another on the Under-19 World Cup.
However, it wasn't always the case. In 2008, then U-19 skipper Virat Kohli and his teammate Ravindra Jadeja made it to the Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals, respectively via the draft system. They were not available for the player auctions, and naturally, the money was limited.
Over the years, the rules changed and Indian colts were allowed to participate in the auctions and since then they got good money and their lives changed forever.
These U-19 cricketers may or may not deliver from the very first season but franchises see them as long-term investment prospects. This year's auction is also likely to be the last IPL mega auction so owners/officials would want to buy these raw talents at comparatively lesser amount and get fruitful results from them in future.
Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja (2008), KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal (2010), Unmukt Chand, Hanuma Vihari (2012), Kuldeep Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson (2014), Ishan Kishan, Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar (2016), Prithvi Shaw, Shubman Gill (2018) Ravi Bishnoi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Kartik Tyagi (2020) and many others have made it big for India or have become IPL stars over the years after taking part in different editions of the Under 19-World Cup.
Likewise, the IPL 2022 auction will also change the lives of many youngsters and the cash-rich league will provide them a chance to showcase their talent in front of the world.
In this listicle, we talk about five Indian Under-19 players who can get hefty deals during the auction on February 12 and 13.
1. Harnoor Singh: Harnoor is one of the most promising talents from this year's India U-19 side. He is the key batsman of the side and has produced some brilliant knocks in the recently-played friendlies and in the U-19 World Cup as well.
In India's second match of the ongoing U-19 World Cup, he was their highest run scorer with an 88-run knock. Harnoor will definitely be one of the young batters out there that the IPL teams can bid for.
2. Angkrish Raghuvanshi: Opener Angkrish is a very dependable batsman. He scored 79 in the match against Ireland and followed it with a daddy hundred (144 off 120) against Uganda. So, he will definitely be one of most sought-after names in the auction.
3. Raj Bawa: He is an allrounder and probably best suited for the IPL format. He can bowl 3-4 overs at ease and is a good batsman as well. He played a sensational knock (162 off 108) against Uganda in addition to his 42 off 64 against Ireland and four big wickets with the ball against South Africa. Franchises who need a young all-rounder will definitely bid for Bawa in the auction and the youngster can get a hefty deal.