Twelve matches are left in this season’s IPL. Alongside a highly entertaining tournament, many lesser known players have made a mark.

Uncapped Indian players have also gained prominence. Many of them have been instrumental in their team’s success.

In this article, we will look at the ten best uncapped Indians of IPL 2018. They have been vital for their teams. From these performances, some of these players may certainly be in Indian national team’s contention soon.

1. Suryakumar Yadav (Mumbai Indians)
Age: 27
Role: Batsman
Signing Fee: Around 640,000$
M: 12, R: 473, HS: 72, SR: 129.58, Bat Avg: 39.41
Eyebrows were raised when Mumbai Indians acquired Surya for around 640,000$. While immensely talented, he played as a floater- finisher for Kolkata Knight Riders in earlier seasons.
With Mumbai Indians thin on quality batsmen, Yadav had a bigger role to play.

He has certainly mastered the task. After starting first few matches in middle order, he was promoted as an opener to partner Evin Lewis. Since then, he has outshone every Mumbai Indians batsman.

With 399, he is team’s highest scorer. Such is his impact that MI’s second highest scorer, Lewis is nearly 150 runs behind Surya. After Rahul, Rayudu and Williamson, he is this season’s fourth highest scorer. He came into this IPL after a fine domestic season. He has carried that form into the tournament.

After making his domestic debut in 2010, Surya was earmarked to represent India in future. Now 27, consistent performances can bring him back in contention for a spot in Indian team.

2. Mayank Markande (Mumbai Indians)
Age: 20
Role: Bowler
Signing Fee: Around 40000$
M: 11, W: 14, BBM: 4/23, Bowl Avg: 22.35, ER: 8.02
Over the years, Mumbai Indians have unearthed numerous talented T20 cricketers. Punjab-born Markande also looks set to go a long way. Signed for his base price (around 40000$), Markande has been one of best bowlers of this season.

Mumbai Indians’ squad lacked an experienced specialist spinner before the tournament. Markande has shouldered this responsibility competently with Krunal Pandya.

He showcased his talent in IPL’s first match against Chennai Super Kings, bamboozling M S Dhoni and co. Continuing his rich vein of form, Markande has picked up wickets in seven out of ten matches. This season, he has 13 scalps in ten innings (tied with Siddharth Kaul and Rashid Khan).

Mayank Markande is one of the fairytale stories of this IPL. It will be interesting to see how he develops after such a fruitful season.

3. Siddharth Kaul (Sunrisers Hyderabad)
Age: 27
Role: Bowler
Signing Fee: Around 760,000$
M: 10, W: 13, BBM: 3/23, Bowl Avg: 28.46, ER: 7.87
Sunrisers Hyderabad have been the most balanced team in the tournament so far. While they haven’t always scored big, they have comfortably defended smallest of totals (118 against Mumbai Indians, 151 against Rajasthan Royals, 146 against Royal Challengers Bangalore, 132 against Kings XI Punjab).

However, with Bhuvaneshwar Kumar out injured, youngster Sandeep Sharma and uncapped Siddharth Kaul who have partnered Rashid Khan brilliantly to win matches.

A relatively late bloomer, Kaul has a knack of wicket-taking. He came into this season as a hopeful for an Indian berth. This IPL season, he was gone just under seven while picking 13 wickets from ten matches. 12 of them have come in winning causes.

After being picked in India’s ODI squad to England, Kaul may be in line to make his India debut soon.

4. Krunal Pandya (Mumbai Indians)
Age: 27
Role: All rounder
Signing Fee: Around 1.76 Million$
M: 12, Runs: 192, HS: 41*, SR: 146.56, Bat Avg: 24.00, Wickets: 11, BBM: 3/28, Bowl Avg: 21.54, ER: 6.93
The costliest uncapped player during IPL auction, the elder Pandya is regarded as one of the most talented cricketers in India. An all-rounder who can bat and bowl, he has been crucial for Mumbai Indians over last three seasons. He is one of the few irreplaceable players of a young and talented Mumbai Indians team.

With 11 wickets and around 200 runs, Krunal has been one of the top allrounders of this season. Getting a few good starts while batting, he has not been able to capitalise on them. He has been an effective spin partner to Markande with important wickets. Krunal has also taken some brilliant catches through this season.

He was a part of India A to South Africa.

According to BCCI sources, Krunal Pandya is due to make his debut for India soon.

(AFP/Sajjad Hussain/Getty Images)

5. Nitish Rana (Kolkata Knight Riders)
Age: 23
Role: Batting all rounder
Signing Fee: Around 680,000$
M: 10, Runs: 251, HS: 59, SR: 132.80, Bat Avg: 27.88, Wickets: 4, BBM: 2/11, Bowl Avg: 9.75, ER: 7.54
With only Robin Utthappa and skipper Dinesh Karthik as experienced middle order batsmen, uncapped Nitish Rana has stepped up to the plate at Knight Riders. Rana, a more than handy middle order batsman for defending champions Mumbai Indians came into this IPL after his best domestic season. He was Delhi’s one of the top batsmen and hit maximum sixes in the domestic T20 tournament.

Rana has carried his knack in the IPL. He occupies number 4 slot in Knight Riders’ batting line-up (one of the most important batting positions across all formats). He has been the aggressor, or an anchor whenever needed.

Rana has also been handy with the ball, picking four wickets, including Virat Kohli and A B De Villiers. He has been an important player for the young Kolkata team.
If he maintains consistency and continues his form, Rana can soon come in Indian national team’s contention.

6. Prithvi Shaw (Delhi Daredevils)
Age: 18
Role: Batsman
Signing Fee: Around 240,000$
M: 7, R: 216, HS: 65, SR: 160.00, Bat Avg: 30.85
India’s Under-19 World Cup winning captain Shaw is one of the revelations of this season. When Delhi’s batsmen like Gautam Gambhir, Colin Munro, Jason Roy and Glenn Maxwell have struggled, Shaw has been a rock.

Coming off a strong domestic campaign and the world cup triumph, Shaw garnered great interest. He has successfully stood up to those expectations. Not only he lays a platform for Delhi to get big totals, Shaw is scoring at a strike rate of over 160. His, alongside youngster Rishabh Pant and skipper Shreyas Iyer’s batting is constantly taking the Daredevils to challenging totals.

After a blistering start to the tournament, he seems slowed down a bit.

With a technique reminiscent to the great Sachin Tendulkar, there are calls to thrust this youngster into India’s national team setup. While he will need to be consistent and better his game, Prithvi Shaw looks one of the certainties to be a part of the Indian team in near future.

7. Ishan Kishan (Mumbai Indians)
Age: 19
Role: Wicket Keeper
Signing Fee: Around 1.23 Million$
M: 12, Runs: 250, HS: 62, SR: 157.23, Batting Avg: 25.00
Eyebrows were raised when Mumbai Indians spent over 1.2 Million$ to acquire glovesman Ishan Kishan for this IPL season. With just under 300 runs, Kishan had a fruitful IPL 2017.

This Jharkhand born wicketkeeper has carried a similar touch this season. However, his season is ploughed by inconsistency. In 11 matches, Kishan has batted in nine innings. Among them, he got out on 0 in three innings, 9 in one inning and got starts with 25, 44 and 40 in other three innings.

Only twice he capitalised on his starts to score two 50’s. However, one his displayed an exhibition of shot-making in his 21-ball-62 against Knight Riders. It is being touted as one of the best innings of this season. He has also been impressive behind stumps with seven catches and two stumpings.

Still only 19, Kishan looks promising to have a long cricket career. However, he should be more consistent to be in Indian national team’s contention at the earliest.

8. Krishnappa Gowtham (Rajasthan Royals)
Age: 29
Role: Bowling All rounder
Signing Fee: Around 1.23 Million$
M: 12, Runs: 100, HS: 33*, SR: 212.76, Bat Avg: 14.28, Wickets: 8, BBM: 2/12, Bowl Avg: 32.37, ER: 7.84
In IPL 2018 player auction, Royals splashed hefty cash to acquire their targets. One of the beneficiaries was Karnataka’s uncapped Krishnappa Gowtham. This 29-year-old performed consistently for Karnataka team and Malnad Gladiators during Karnataka Premier League.

Gowtham has found good touch in this IPL season with striking the ball at over 210 and has picked up eight wickets. His blistering knock of unbeaten 33 from 11 won the match for Royals against Mumbai Indians.

He was more than handy for his four ball 13 against Super Kings in a must win match for the Royals. He had one of his best bowling performances in the recently concluded match against Kings XI Punjab where he bamboozled Chris Gayle before giving away 12 runs in three overs and took two wickets.

At 29, a spot in Indian team may be farfetched. However, he should be consistent and improve his performances to be noticed by Indian selectors.

9. Shubman Gill (Kolkata Knight Riders)
Age: 19
Role: Batsman
Signing fee: Around 360,000$
M: 9, R: 145, HS: 57*, SR: 142.15, Bat Avg: 36.25
Another from India’s very talented Under 19 World Cup squad, Gill has become a mainstay in Kolkata Knight Riders’ middle order. Man-of-the-series at the World Cup, Gill’s batting style has been compared to Virat Kohli.

He can drive, pull, cut, keep the ball on the ground, find gaps and take the aerial route. At top heavy Knight Riders (Lynn, Narine, Utthappa and Rana before him), Gill doesn’t get many chances to bat. However, he has shined whenever he came to the middle. His innings of unbeaten 57 against Chennai Super Kings after being promoted to number four was lauded for being one of the more complete knocks of this season.

With rich talent, good temperament and a healthy attitude, Gill looks certain to make it to India’s national team setup soon alongside Shaw.

10. Deepak Chahar (Chennai Super Kings)
Age: 25
Role: Bowler
Signing fee: Around 160,000$
M: 8, W: 7, BBM: 3/15, Bowl. Avg: 24.14, ER: 7.29
After the IPL auctions, many thought that lack of a quality pacer can hurt CSK’s prospects. However, deep into the tournament, Super Kings are in second position. Chennai’s bowlers are deservingly being praised.

Leading their pace attack from front is Deepak Chahar. Currently injured, Chahar has been superb for the Super Kings. While collecting just under a wicket per match, he has gone with an economy rate of under 8. More impressively, he usually bowls his three overs in the power play (when only two fielders are outside the 30-yard circle).

He bowled two impressive spells in tournament- to Rohit Sharma in IPL’s first match and against Sunrisers Hyderabad where he took first three wickets in a tricky chase. During India’s domestic T20 tournament, he showed that he can also be a handy batsman.

Uncapped Deepak Chahar has been an impressive campaigner this season partnering Shardul Thakur.

Notable Mentions
Ankit Rajpoot (Kings XI Punjab)
Age: 24
Role: Bowler
Signing Fee: Around 600,000$
M: 5, W: 8, BBM: 5/14, Bowl Avg: 19.75, ER: 8.69
At the start of this tournament, Kings XI Punjab appeared a lopsided team with very good batsmen and inexperienced bowlers. However, they alongside Sunrisers Hyderabad have been the most balanced team so far. While purple cap holder Andrew Tye is the go-to bowler for skipper R Ashwin, Rajpoot has emerged as a game changer for Kings XI. Going at just over 8, he has provided them with wickets. His 5/14 came in a losing cause against Sunrisers Hyderabad were the best figures by an uncapped bowler in IPL’s history.

At the start of this season, Punjab preferred Mohit Sharma and Barinder Sran to partner Tye. However, their failure to perform consistently opened doors for Rajpoot. While he was a touch expensive against Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajpoot is likely to be KXIP’s second seamer this season.

Shivam Mavi (Kolkata Knight Riders)
Age: 19
Role: Bowler
Signing Fee: Around 600,000$
M: 7, Wickets: 3, BBM:1/14, Bowl Avg: 64.33, ER: 9.65
Praised by Brett Lee as the future of Indian bowling, Shivam Mavi is enjoying his time in the IPL. Still only 19, he has relished the responsibility of the second seamer at the Knight Riders. According to Lee, ‘Mavi knows what he is doing and really enjoys his cricket. He has a beautiful action and packs himself as a fully furnished bowler’.
With veteran Vinay Kumar struggling in first few matches and youngster Kamlesh Nagarkoti out with an injury, Mavi has withstood pressure of this elite T20 tournament.
This Under-19 World Cup hero does not have the best of returns from his seven matches. However, future is bright for this youngster if he gets more chances to play at the elite level.