Harshal Patel and Avesh Khan: The two rising stars of Indian bowling

Lately, many fast bowlers have been picked by national selectors for overseas tours. The young players are using the opportunity to the fullest to make an impact and grab a chance for themselves to play for India.  

IPL: the talent generator for Indian Cricket

Of the many bowlers, Harshal Patel and Avesh Khan were the two uncapped players in IPL 2021 who impressed selectors and emerged as the two Indian fast-bowlers. Before this, Ravichandran Aswin, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya, all these known names in international cricket are the stars we got from the Indian Premier League.

Harshal Patel: Defending and current purple cap holder of IPL

Harshal Patel started his IPL journey in 2012. In the ten years of hard work, sweat and toil in the T20 league, he picked 82 wickets in 66 matches. Of which 32 came in the single-season of IPL 2021 while playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore. That was the best performance of the young bowler as he went on to become the purple cap holder. Selectors couldn't turn blind toward his performance and landed him with the maiden call for the T20 series against New Zealand. He took two wickets and was named the player of the match.

Avesh Khan: The match-winning wicket-taker

After Harshal Patel came Avesh Khan, who closed as the second-highest wicket-taker in IPL 2021 while playing for Delhi Capitals. The 25-year-old became a household name for his tremendous form and went on to take 24 wickets in 16 matches and finished second in the Purple Cap race, behind Harshal Patel (32 dismissals). His performance in IPL 2021 saw him get an India call-up for the New Zealand T20I series in November last year. Although he didn't feature against the Blackcaps, the pacer was given a chance to make his India debut in the white-ball series against West Indies in February. 

Avesh Khan credited the Indian Premier League for his selection in the Indian National Team. He said, "IPL helped me a lot because I played all the matches last season. I played 16 matches. The last two years, I was getting to play very few matches, and I wasn't able to show my talent". He further added, "In IPL 2021, I played from the first match and it felt good. Due to IPL, I got selected for Team India and got a chance to play in the New Zealand series. I established my name in ODIs and T20Is".

Team India's selector will be keeping a keen eye on the performance of these two bowlers. They have consistently taken wickets since the 2021 IPL for their respective franchise. They might get their maiden world cup call if they continue their performance.