Top 5 emerging players from IPL 2025
Every season, we see a plethora of young players make a name for themselves in the toughest T20 league in the world.
This season was no different, as we were blessed with some of the most exciting talent on show — with the likes of young Vaibhav Suryavanshi taking the Indian Premier League and the country by storm.
In this article, we present five emerging players from the 2025 IPL season.
Indian Premier League 2025: 5 emerging players
#5 Vipraj Nigam | Delhi Capitals
Matches: 14 | Runs: 142 | Wickets: 11 | Strike rate: 179.75 | Economy rate: 9.13
Hailing from Delhi, the 20-year-old was a relatively unknown quantity in the IPL before the season began, despite making significant strides in domestic cricket, representing Uttar Pradesh and the Lucknow Falcons franchise in the UP T20 League.
Vipraj Nigam definitely left his mark this season with some quality performances with both bat and ball. Batting at No. 8, the leggie flaunted his explosive power-hitting on debut against the Lucknow Super Giants, scoring 39 off 15 in a match the Delhi Capitals won by a wicket in the end.
Nigam continued to chip in with decent cameos throughout what was a rather disappointing campaign for skipper Axar Patel. With the ball, he emerged as the second lead spinner alongside Kuldeep Yadav. He ended his debut campaign with 11 wickets at an economy rate of 9.13, which is more than acceptable considering he played half of his games at the relatively small Arun Jaitley Stadium.
#4 Digvesh Singh Rathi | Lucknow Super Giants
Matches: 13 | Wickets: 14 | Economy rate: 8.25
Despite his aggression and provocative celebrations drawing a lot of attention and criticism from even ex-pros, one thing nobody can deny is that Digvesh Singh Rathi is one of the finds of this season.
Bought at the base price of INR 30 lakh, Rathi was the standout LSG bowler throughout the campaign and only missed one game through suspension after a heated altercation with Abhishek Sharma in LSG’s match against the SunRisers Hyderabad.
Taking 14 wickets while going at an economy rate of 8.25 in his debut season is an incredible feat by the 25-year-old. Had there been a little more support for this mystery bowler, LSG might have just gotten themselves over the line in the Playoffs race.
In Rathi, the Super Giants have a bowler around whom they can build their bowling attack going forward.
#3 Vaibhav Suryavanshi | Rajasthan Royals
Matches: 7 | Runs: 252 | Strike rate: 206.56
Sanju Samson’s injury came as a blessing in disguise for the Rajasthan Royals management, who after their dismal performances throughout the season can only take one positive — unearthing a gem like Vaibhav Suryavanshi.
This 14-year-old prodigy from Tajpur, Bihar, has defied age barriers and expectations. He scored a fiery 20-ball 34 in his debut against LSG, and the best came not too long after when he scored a breathtaking 101 off 38 against the Gujarat Titans in Match 47. Breaking many records, he carried on his destructive work till the end of the season.
However, despite his brilliant knocks, there are glaring weaknesses in Suryavanshi’s game as well, which is expected from a 14-year-old. That said, his emergence also allowed skipper Samson to slot into the No. 3 role after his injury — something RR can build on going forward, given how gravely they missed Jos Buttler’s presence at the top of the order this season.
#2 Ayush Mhatre | Chennai Super Kings
Matches: 7 | Runs: 240 | Strike rate: 188.98
The Chennai Super Kings had a lot of faith in their Kiwi openers. However, when they both failed miserably, with Rahul Tripathi and young Sheikh Rasheed failing to follow through and captain Ruturaj Gaikwad pulling out of the tournament midway due to a hairline fracture to the elbow, the CSK management found a glimmer of hope in the form of 17-year-old Ayush Mhatre.
Fresh off his exploits in the domestic circuit, where he became the youngest player to score 150 or more in a List A match — breaking Yashasvi Jaiswal’s record — Mhatre debuted against the Mumbai Indians at Wankhede, the very ground where he plays his first-class cricket. What followed over the next seven matches was an exhibition of his composure at the crease and willingness to play to the situation.
In seven matches, Mhatre scored 240 runs, including an innings of 94 runs off 48 balls against eventual champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru. The fact that he scored 30 or more in five of his seven innings, striking at almost 190, just shows the level at which he’s already operating.
Moreover, unlike many unorthodox and explosive openers nowadays who refrain from using their feet, Mhatre is technically very strong and will only get better.
#1 Priyansh Arya | Punjab Kings
Matches: 17 | Runs: 475 | Strike rate: 179.25
At the time of the bidding, only DC, PBKS, and RCB looked interested in this southpaw, with most teams unaware of his capabilities at the top of the order. In the end, it was the Kings who forked out INR 3.8 crore to acquire his services for three seasons.
Apart from the fact that he had hit six sixes in an over in the Delhi Premier League and finished the tournament as the highest run-getter (608 runs), no one knew much about Priyansh Arya. However, now every cricket fan in India knows who he is.
After making a quickfire 47 off 23 on debut against the Gujarat Titans, failure against LSG and a first-ball dismissal against the searing pace of Jofra Archer did cast some doubts over whether the IPL was indeed a step up too high for him, with the debut knock being just a flash in the pan. However, his 103-off-42 knock against CSK — where none of the other top six PBKS batters scored in double digits — made the world take note.
Arya’s partnership with Prabhsimran Singh at the top was one of the catalysts for Punjab reaching their second-ever IPL final, and their first since 2014. And although they lost the final, the future looks bright for PBKS and Priyansh Arya.
