Every season, the Indian Premier League gives away prizes that appreciate players from all the fields for their consistent performances. While they would surely help a cricketer get an extended IPL contract, sometimes these awards could also help them get into the national team. Among these prizes, we talk about the Emerging Player Award in this article.
Emerging Player Award is given to a young cricketer who qualifies for all the criteria and does exceptionally well for his franchise. Usually, these cricketers go on to achieve great things for their national squads. The likes of Rohit Sharma, Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant are prime examples. However, sometimes, a few winners fail to go all the way. Owing to various circumstances, they get stuck in their careers. We talk about these players here.
1. Shreevats Goswami – 2008
Shreevats Goswami was the first recipient of the Emerging Player Award. In 2008, the U19 World Cup-winning wicket-keeper batsman was representing the Royal Challengers Bangalore. He got a few opportunities to play a few games and did exceedingly well in them. However, the West Bengal cricketer could not produce consistent displays to take a spot in the Indian Team. Although he played well for his state side in the domestic competitions, Goswami could not elevate his performances. In IPL 2021, he will play for SRH, where he could yet again get a few chances.
2. Saurabh Tiwary – 2010
Saurabh Tiwary was also part of the famous group that won the U19 World Cup. He was with the Mumbai Indians and had a stellar season in 2010. He was especially proficient in playing the short ball, something that most Indians struggled to do. Although the Jharkhand man got his chance with the Indian Team, he could not sustain the position. He was also poor in his stint with RCB. In the domestic tournaments as well, he could not set the stage on fire. There have also been fitness issues all the while. In IPL 2021, the player will be representing the Mumbai Indians.
3. Basil Thampi – 2017
Basil Thampi won the Emerging Player Award in 2017. The Kerala pacer showed that he was a proper T20 pacer with his variations and the ability to dish out yorkers at the death. However, since then, Basil has been struggling both in IPL and domestic events. While at SRH, Basil is not even getting his chances, the man has not performed extra-ordinarily in any of the recent domestic level competitions. A brief period with India happened, but that also proved unworthy.
4. Iqbal Abdulla – 2011
Iqbal Abdulla was a good left-arm spinner who helped KKR do well in IPL. The Mumbai cricketer could also bat a little, which showed his versatility as a cricketer. After his KKR journey, Iqbal also had a few good moments with RCB. However, the man hasn’t was not able to break into the Indian Team. He even does not represent Mumbai now.
5. Mandeep Singh – 2012
Mandeep Singh was a promising cricketer in his teenage. In his stint with the Kings XI Punjab, alongside Adam Gilchrist, Mandeep put on some stellar shows. He won many matches for his franchise through these performances. The Punjab player also represented India and actually started well. However, the right-hand batsman could not really break the door. His consistency was underwhelming and soon fell out of favour.
