This year’s domestic season fulfilled dreams of many cricketers as many players got the opportunity to represent the country. Also, players like Krishna Das, Bandeep Singh, Nathu Singh which represent small states were successful in making a name for themselves.
Krishna Das was the second highest wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy tournament, Bandeep Singh scored the fastest half-century in the history of Ranji Trophy and Nathu Singh who made his debut in this season was able to find a place in BCCI XI squad after playing just 2 Ranji games.
He was sold for the whopping amount of 2.1 Crore in IPL auction earlier this year. But talking of biggest gainers from this year’s season the list includes names like Hardik Pandya, Brainder Singh Sran, Pawan Negi and Jasprit Bumrah. Ravindra Jadeja too marked a comeback in the Indian squad on the basis of his strong bowling performance in first three matches of Ranji Trophy.
Let’s take a dig at the performance of these players which helped them to find a place in the Indian squad-
Hardik Pandya- The biggest gainer from this year’s domestic season was Hardik Pandya. Before the start of the domestic season, based on his performance in IPL he was selected to represent BCCI XI squad against the visiting South African side in a two-day match. He performed well in the match as he scored a half century and also dismissed two batsmen. He continued his good form in Ranji trophy and Vijay Hazare trophy and this helped him to get a place in the Indian Squad but his spectacular performance in the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy helped him to get a place in playing XI against Australia. In Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Hardik Pandya alone lead his team to the finals of the tournament where the team lost to U.P. But Pandya performed brilliantly throughout the tournament. The all-rounder was the highest run scorer in the tournament. He scored 377 runs in 10 innings at an average of 53.85 with a strike rate of 130.90. He also scalped 10 wickets in the tournament. In one of the matches, he smashed 39 runs in an over and shattered all the records. Now, he is a big asset to the Indian team as he is contributing equally in both the departments of the game.
Pawan Negi- Pawan Negi, the discarded player from Delhi squad who has been ignored again and again by the Delhi selectors found a place for himself in the national squad riding on limited chances given to him by Delhi and C.S.K. The talented young boy has made most of the few opportunities provided to him and made name for him. He was never in the frame of being selected in the Indian squad but hard work paid off in the end. Negi was not a part of Delhi squad for most the Ranji Trophy matches. He just got one opportunity in Ranji trophy this year in which he scalped 2 wickets in 5 overs. He had a great run in Vijay Hazare trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy which helped him to get a maiden call-up for the national squad. In Vijay Hazare Trophy he scored 170 runs in 5 innings at an average of 85.00 and pouched 16 wickets. In Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy he scored 173 runs at an average of 86.50 at a strike rate of 173. His performance helped him to seal a berth in the Indian squad. He made his debut against U.A.E. In Asia cup and dismissed 1 batsman.
Barinder Singh Sran- This man is the luckiest man in the history of Indian cricket. Cricketers sweat it out hard for years in domestic cricket to get a national call-up still many ends up their career playing domestic cricket only but this man was successful to impress the Indian batsmen in the nets and they were so impressed by his bowling that he selected in the Indian squad which toured Australia in January. He had a great start to his career as he dismissed 3 batsmen in his debut match but went wicketless in next two matches and finally was dropped from the in the Indian squad. He is still young and he will get his chances in the future and surely he would look to capitalize on those chances to seal his place in the national squad.
Jasprit Bumrah- The young and talented fast bowler made headlines during IPL 2013. His strange action helped him to grab eyeballs of many. He has been a consistent performer for Gujarat and he was also selected to represent India A squad in 2014 which toured Australia. Bumrah bowls at a good pace and his confusing action is an advantage to him but he lacked consistency which was a great problem for him. This season his consistent performance in Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy helped him to get a place in the Indian squad. He was the highest wicket-taker In this year’s Vijay Hazare trophy as he had 21 wickets in 9 matches. In the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy, he grabbed 14 wickets and his brilliant performance earned him a place in the Indian squad. He was selected in the T20 squad but a missed flight and injury to Bhuvneshwar Kumar helped him to his ODI debut and he grabbed it with both hands and took 2 wickets giving away just 40 runs in his 10 overs. He is a real gem to Indian cricket and will surely be a big player in the upcoming years,