#3 Devdutt Padikkal (Royal Challengers Bangalore)

One name that grabbed headlines during the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021 was Devdutt Padikkal, as he amassed as many as 737 runs in only seven innings at an average of 147.4 and strike rate of 95.96, including four consecutive centuries. The 20-year-old left-handed batsman was looking in phenomenal form in IPL 2020 as well, which he ended as RCB’s highest run-getter. Captain Virat Kohli will be hoping for another good season from the young bowler from Karnataka this IPL.

#2 Abdul Samad (Sunrisers Hyderabad)

Jammu and Kashmir’s 19-year-old Abdul Samad ha managed to maintain a strike rate of 147 in all T20 games he has played. Last year in the IPL, Samad batted at a strike rate of over 170 for the Sunrisers. The young Kashmiri lad rose to prominence in the 2019-20 Ranji Trophy season and has performed well across the formats. Notably, he hit Piyush Chawla for four sixes in a Vijay Hazare game at Jaipur last year.

#1 Chetan Sakariya (Rajasthan Royals)

Bought by the Royals for  ₹1.20 crore, the 23-year-old left-arm quick after his performances on the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021, in which he ended as the sixth-highest wicket taker. The Saurashtra bowler has played 16 T20s from which he has scalped 28 wickets including a five-wicket haul. He has conceded run at a miserly rate of 7.08. Chetan’s stats in the shortest format are likely to warrant him a place in Rajasthan’s playing XI, more so because Jofra Archer is unavailable for the first few games.