IPL 2026: 10 players to watch out for
As the 19th edition of the ever-popular Indian Premier League (IPL) is set to begin in late March, there will be a lot of players with a point to prove or show their talent against the best players in the world. Every season, a new young star has emerged in the IPL and this season would be no different with a plethora of young talented players set to make their debut. Undoubtedly, a few experienced stalwarts would also want to make a difference to their team’s fortunes.
(P.S.: The stats have been taken from espncricinfo.com and icc-cricket.com)
Let’s take a look at the players to watch out for in the IPL 2026 season –
1. Ishan Kishan (Sunrisers Hyderabad)
After leading his state Jharkhand to the 2025/26 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) with a top-scoring performance in the competition and performing exceptionally well in the recently concluded T20 World Cup, Indian left-handed batter Ishan Kishan is in fine form. This could be great news for the Sunrisers Hyderabad with their other opener Abhishek Sharma having lost his form lately.
Though SRH has some other fearsome batters in their lineup with the likes of Travis Head, Heinrich Klassen and Liam Livingstone, they would do well with an in-form player at the top of the order who can exploit the powerplay overs.
Kishan’s form last season didn’t justify his reasonably high auction fee (INR 11.25 crore) as he ended the season with 320 runs in 14 games with an average of 22.86 and a strike-rate of 148.84. In contrast, he scored 317 runs in nine games at the 2026 T20 World Cup with an average of 35.22 and a strike-rate of 193.29.
Kishan had been dropped from the Indian limited overs format two years ago but he ground out in the domestic tournaments, producing consistent performances and forcing the selectors to take notice.
It has been an amazing comeback story for the Jharkhand southpaw and Kishan is definitely going to be one of the players to watch out for at this year’s IPL.
2. Vaibhav Suryavanshi (Rajasthan Royals)
14-year-old opening batter Vaibhav Suryavanshi announced himself to the world at last year’s IPL with a century in his second game only. Since then, the hard-hitting teenager has produced some unbelievable knocks that have left the entire cricketing world in awe.
His IPL debut went quite well as he ended up with 252 runs in seven innings with an average of 36.00 and a fabulous strike-rate of 206.56. These were incredible numbers for an experienced T20 batter, let alone a 13-year-old who was making his debut in the toughest T20 franchise tournament in the world. Suryavanshi is indeed a prodigious talent and definitely one of the superstars for the future.
His most recent exploits came in the ICC U-19 World Cup where he completely annihilated the most-vaunted English bowling lineup in the finals with an incredible 175 off 80 balls, hitting 15 fours and 15 sixes at a sensational strike-rate of 218.75. He ended up scoring 439 runs in seven innings. The youngster scored at such a rate in the 50-over format, it’s hard to imagine what he would do in the shortest format with his fearless batting at the top of order for the Rajasthan Royals.
Being such an exciting talent with a fearless outlook, Suryavanshi is definitely one of the most popular players that the fans would queue up to watch this season.
3. Auqib Nabi Dar (Delhi Capitals)
J&K fast bowler Auqib Nabi has been in the news lately and for all the right reasons. He was one of the standout performers for the Jammu and Kashmir Ranji team that won their first-ever Ranji Trophy in 67 years.
Auqib Nabi was the highest wicket-taker in the prestigious Ranji Trophy with 60 wickets in 10 matches (17 innings) with a best bowling figure of 7/24 and an average of 12.56. He performed superbly in the 2025 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy as well, taking 15 wickets in seven matches with a decent economy rate of 7.41. These consistent performances prompted the Delhi Capitals to buy him in the 2025 Auction for a high valuation of INR 8.40 crore.
The 29-year-old right-arm pacer has impressed one and all with his line, length and inswingers. He has the ability to take wickets with his incredible ball control and ability and extract swing even from flat wickets.
Nabi has shown a lot of promise in domestic cricket over the past two seasons and with DC showing faith in him, this could be his time to shine in the IPL.
4. Jacob Bethell (Royal Challengers Bengaluru)
22-year-old Englishman Jacob Bethell is another player to watch out for in this year’s IPL. Bethell is proving to be a serious player for England with the batter already having debuted in all three formats for his national team.
Not just that, Bethell has already scored a century in all three formats for England and his exceptional innings in the T20 WC semi-final against India almost won England the game in a high target chase. Bethell has all the shots in the book, can improvise as well and plays with an aggressive mindset. Bethell can play both pace and spin quite well.
His T20 World Cup campaign was a great one with the batter scoring 280+ runs with an average of 35.00 and a top strike-rate of 152.17. His T20 international numbers are also similar.
Bethell was part of the RCB squad last season too but he only played two games before going away for national duty, hence this is almost like a debut season for him.
Moreover, he has been in top form lately and also looks well adjusted to the Indian pitches, Bethell could be one of the overseas players who could prove vital for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru to defend their title.
5. Kartik Sharma (Chennai Super Kings)
Young uncapped wicketkeeper-batter, Kartik Sharma was the talk of the town during the IPL mini-auction as he went to CSK with a massive INR 14.2 crore. Playing for Rajasthan in the Ranji Trophy, the young middle-order batter has taken well to the T20 format in the domestic circuit.
Kartik Sharma has played 12 T20 games in the domestic tournaments, scoring 334 runs with an average of 30.36 and an incredible strike-rate of 162.92. Although he hasn’t played many games, CSK have shown a lot of confidence and invested in the 19-year-old.
Kartik Sharma is known to be a big six-hitter becoming the joint-highest six hitter in the first phase of the Vijay Hazare Trophy with 28 sixes and also had the highest sixes in the previous Vijay Hazare Trophy. In addition, he had already trained with the CSK squad in the 2025 season, already having impressed them with his hard-hitting ability.
Sharma can dominate pacers and spinners with ease. It would be interesting to see if IPL is going to witness another top Indian talent after the likes of Priyansh Arya, Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Ayush Mhatre last year.
6. Finn Allen (Kolkata Knight Riders)
New Zealand opener Finn Allen will be playing for the KKR franchise this season. Allen is a hard-hitting explosive T20 batter who can completely take the game away from the opposition.
Though he hasn’t yet played in the IPL, he has participated in all the top leagues across the world and performed superbly there. For context, he has played 21 games in the Big Bash League, scoring 647 runs with an average of 30.80 and a stunning strike-rate of 184.33. In the T20 internationals, he has played 62 matches for New Zealand, scoring 1663 runs with an average of 28.67 and a top strike-rate of 170.73.
In the recently concluded T20 WC, Allen played a match-winning innings against title-contenders South Africa in the semis, scoring a 100 off just 33 balls with 10 fours and eight sixes with an outrageous strike-rate of 303.
KKR have a selection headache with Finn Allen also one of the options to open the innings. If he gets going, he can dominate the bowlers in the powerplay and score big runs for his team, that too with an astonishing strike-rate.
Finn Allen is undoubtedly one of the players to watch out for in the IPL this season.
7. Marco Jansen (Punjab Kings)
South African all-rounder Marco Jansen has been in superb form lately. While he opens the bowling in the powerplay, he can completely change the game lower down the order with his powerful hitting.
Jansen was one of the standout players for the Proteas in the 2026 T20 World Cup. Although South Africa lost the semis, he was the one who made the difference with a 27-ball 55 not out to take their score to 169/8 after they were reeling at 77/5. He scored 268 runs with a strike-rate of 147.25 and took 13 wickets in this World Cup campaign.
Jansen played for the PBKS franchise last season, helping them reach the IPL final. He took 16 wickets in 14 games with an average of 27.13 and a decent economy-rate of 9.20. He also scored some important runs lower down the order for the Punjab Kings.
Jansen has really improved since his stint with PBKS last season and he remains one of the most reliable allrounders in the IPL, one to watch out for sure this season.
8. Sanju Samson (Chennai Super Kings)
Sanju Samson has already been an IPL superstar but this season he will play in different colours and will be seen in the famed yellow jersey of CSK.
Not having been a part of the starting team at the 2026 T20 World Cup, Sanju came in the side with Abhishek Sharma failing to fire at the top of the order and what an impact he made. Samson played three big match-winning innings all the way to the final and ended up receiving the Player of the Tournament with 321 runs in five games with an average of 80.25 with a remarkable strike-rate of 199.37. Samson also hit the most sixes in the tournament with 24 sixes to his name. He looked imperious and composed all through the knockout games.
Sanju has already been a top performer for the Rajasthan Royals for many seasons now but having hit a purple patch in the World Cup and now playing for former multiple champions CSK under the leadership of MS Dhoni, Samson would be another player who could quietly have a fabulous tournament this year.
9. Prashant Veer (Chennai Super Kings)
Chennai Super Kings invested heavily in another uncapped and lesser-known player Prashant Veer in the mini-auction. Veer was bought for a mammoth INR 14.20 crore alongside Kartik Sharma.
Veer is an allrounder who bats left-handed and bowls left-arm off-spin. Allrounders are really popular in the shorter format as they offer you versatility. Much like Kartik Sharma, Prashant Veer hasn’t had much domestic experience having played only nine T20 games for Uttar Pradesh in the domestic circuit. However, he has impressed both with the bat and ball in those games, scoring 112 with an average of 28 and a strike-rate of 167.16. His bowling numbers are excellent as well as he took 12 wickets with an average of 16.66 and an incredible economy-rate of 6.45.
For the amount of money CSK has invested in him, Veer is definitely set to feature for a number of games in this year’s IPL. India is known to produce top spin bowlers but having one who is more than a handy batter is highly advantageous.
In his debut season, playing against the top, most destructive batters in the world, it would be quite a fascinating contest to see a young left-arm spinner weave his magic.
Prashant Veer would definitely be under a lot of scrutiny and focus due to the big money move, a player everyone would be watching with a lot of interest this season.
10. Ashok Sharma (Gujarat Titans)
Ashok Sharma would be another young uncapped Indian player joining the IPL this season. He is a right-arm pacer who was bought by the Rajasthan Royals in the mini-auction in December.
The 23-year-old bowler plays for the state of Rajasthan in the domestic circuit and also served as a net bowler for the RR after which KKR picked him up in the mega auction. However, he didn’t get a look in and now the Gujarat Titans have picked him ahead of the 2026 IPL.
Sharma has performed exceptionally well in the domestic T20 tournaments, picking up 22 wickets in 10 games with an impressive average of 15.63 and a decent economy-rate of 9.25 with best figures of 4/16.
With the GT coaching staff always looking to promote Indian talent and the bowler being in top form, Sharma could have his moment in the sun. He is another upcoming fast bowler who can bowl over 140+ kmph speeds and judging by his stats, he has the uncanny ability to take wickets with his pace and variations.
Although he didn’t cost that much, Ashok Sharma is yet another uncapped player going into the 2026 IPL with a lot of expectations and limelight – another one to watch closely in the IPL this year.
