Mohit Sharma

Although Mohit Sharma burst onto the domestic scene during Haryana's best Ranji Trophy season in 2011-12, he made his own headlines a year later. In his debut season Mohit had played just three matches when Haryana made an impressive run to the semi-finals, but during the 2012-13 Ranji season he emerged as one of the best fast bowlers in the country, finishing as the fifth-highest wicket-taker. Despite that, not many had seen or known about the youngster from Faridabad, who had been on the fringes ever since he rose through age-group cricket camps organised by the Haryana Cricket Association.

But during the 2013 IPL, Mohit's talent was unveiled as MS Dhoni picked him consistently in the Chennai Super Kings XI. Not only that, he also gave him the new ball and Mohit responded handsomely. Standing at about 5'11", Mohit has a smooth delivery stride, and though he is still working on his final landing movements with experts like Andy Bichel, he can consistently bowl at about 135 kph. Accuracy is his strongest suit, as he bowls a tight line and length regardless of the batsmen, pitch or ground conditions. In the IPL, his ability to bowl consistently in the channel around off stump stood out more than anything else. That allowed him to be one of the best Powerplay bowlers in the tournament.

His consistent performances have been rewarded with a maiden call-up to the Indian team for their tour of Zimbabwe in July 2013. The rise continued in that series as he turned in a Man-of-the-Match performance on ODI debut.
Nagraj Gollapudi