SMAT 2022-23: IPL experience great boost for youngsters in domestic T20 tournament
SMAT 2022-23: IPL experience great boost for youngsters in domestic T20 tournament. Top five Indian young batters who are doing good in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2022-23.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) has been a launching pad for several young cricketers in the past and will continue to be in the future. Quite a number of players who were unknown before the IPL have performed well in the tournament and went on to represent the country and played a huge part in the success of various teams they have played for.
This is applicable not just for the Indian players but also the plethora of overseas stars who have utilised IPL as a platform to gain experience and found lots of success in the leagues across the world. When it comes to Indian talents which are abundant, the proportion of getting a chance in IPL is very less. Such is the competition even at the youth level when it comes to Indian cricket.
Apart from the IPL, the Indian domestic season includes the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy (SMAT) which is a T20 competition amongst the first-class sides of India. SMAT is a national T20 tournament, and it is a launch pad for emerging cricketers to get into the reckoning and contention for IPL teams talent scouts to pick from. The pool is so large that many of the deserving candidates can get overlooked.
Yes, we have good performances in SMAT which get noticed and the players gets rewarded in the form of IPL contracts, but the IPL experience has helped youngsters to steal the show in SMAT. The domestic players more often get to play under high pressure situations in the IPL even by just being in the dressing room and when they come to play tournaments like SMAT, they automatically become senior players and are expected to be responsible.
This is the case in every single edition of SMAT and the 2022-23 season has been no different thus far.
Here are five of the players whose IPL experiences have greatly benefitted them in SMAT 2022-23
Tilak Varma (Hyderabad)
The 19-year-old from Hyderabad is regarded as one of the promising young batting talents in the country. He is expected to be part of India’s batting line-up someday and has a huge potential to be a star in his own right. Tilak Varma was picked by the 5-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians (MI) and debuted for them in the 2022 season.
Though it was not a season to remember for MI, Tilak Varma made a huge impression in his maiden outing. The youngster was the team’s 2nd highest run-getter in that edition with 397 runs, only behind Ishan Kishan.
Tilak from then on grew from strength to strength in the domestic circuit. He was drafted into the India A side facing New Zealand at home and then found success in the ongoing SMAT where he is currently the 6th highest run-getter with 297 runs till the group stage. He has struck 4 fifties for Hyderabad and bailed them out from them trouble more often than not.
Tilak Varma in T20s in 2022
Format | M | Runs | Strike Rate | Average | HS | 50s/100s |
IPL | 14 | 397 | 131.02 | 36.09 | 61 | 2/0 |
SMAT | 6 | 297 | 136.23 | 49.50 | 67 | 4/0 |
Read More: SMAT 2022-23: Top 5 Impactful Players: Nitish Rana, Tilak Varma present decent case for themselves
Yash Dhull (Delhi)
India’s 2022 Under-19 World Cup winning captain has had a dream run thus far in SMAT 2022-23. After a stunning start to his first-class career, where he slammed twin centuries on his Ranji Trophy debut for Delhi, a double-century in the next game followed by a century on Duleep Trophy debut, Yash Dhull looks set for bigger things with consistent outings in the SMAT.
Dhull is the leading run-getter in the league stage of SMAT 2022-23 and has guided his team Delhi to the quarter-final stage in his debut SMAT season. Dhull was picked by the Delhi Capitals (DC) in the IPL 2022 Auction but didn’t get a game in the whole season. But he shared the dressing room with some of the greats through the two months and could be one of the reasons why he was so successful in the domestic season that followed the IPL.
Yash Dhull in T20s in 2022
Format | M | Runs | Strike Rate | Average |