With the 19th edition of the ever-popular Indian Premier League (IPL) upon us, there will be a lot of players with a point to prove and to show their talent against the game’s very best.
Every season, a new star emerges in the IPL. This season will be no different, with a plethora of youngsters set to make their debut. Undoubtedly, a few experienced stalwarts will also want to make a difference to their team’s fortunes.
Here, we present our pick of the ten players to watch out for during the 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) season.
Note: The stats mentioned here have been sourced from ESPNcricinfo and the official website of the International Cricket Council (ICC).
After leading Jharkhand to the 2025/26 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy with a top-scoring campaign, having also performed exceptionally in the recently concluded T20 World Cup, it’s safe to say that Indian left-handed batter Ishan Kishan is in fine form. This could be great news for the SunRisers Hyderabad, whose other star opener and Kishan’s compatriot, Abhishek Sharma, has lost form lately.
Though SRH have some other fearsome batters in their line-up, boasting the likes of Travis Head, Heinrich Klaasen, and Liam Livingstone, they’d do well with an in-form player at the top of the order who can exploit the Powerplay.
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 recent T20 World Cup with an average of 35.22 and a strike rate of 193.29.
Kishan had been dropped from the limited-overs Team India setup two years ago, but he ground it out in the domestic circuit, producing consistent performances and forcing selectors to take notice.
It has been an amazing comeback story for the Jharkhand southpaw, who is definitely going to be one of the players to watch out for at this year’s IPL.
14-year-old opening batter Vaibhav Sooryavanshi announced himself to the world at last year’s IPL with a century in his second-ever game. Since then, the hard-hitting teenager has produced some unbelievable knocks that have left the entire cricketing world in awe.
Sooryavanshi’s debut IPL campaign went quite well, as he ended up with 252 runs in seven innings with an average of 36 and a fabulous strike rate of 206.56. These would be incredible numbers for any experienced batter, let alone a 13-year-old making his debut in the toughest franchise T20 tournament in the world. Indeed, he is a prodigious talent, and definitely one of the superstars for the future.
His most recent exploits came in the U19 World Cup, where he annihilated the most-vaunted English bowling line-up in the final with an incredible 175 off 80 balls, hitting 15 fours and 15 sixes at a sensational strike rate of 218.75, finishing the tournament with 439 runs in seven innings. Given his recent strike rate in the 50-over format, it’s hard to imagine what he may do in the shortest format in his second season with the Rajasthan Royals.
Being such an exciting talent with a fearless approach, Sooryavanshi is definitely one of the most popular players whom fans will be queueing up to watch this season.
Jammu & Kashmir pacer Auqib Nabi has been in the news lately, and for all the right reasons. He was one of the standout performers in the J&K team who won their first-ever Ranji Trophy in 67 years.
Nabi was the leading wicket-taker in the prestigious tournament with 60 wickets in ten matches (17 innings), with best figures 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 at a decent economy rate of 7.41. These consistent performances prompted the Delhi Capitals to buy him in the 2025 auction for a high price of INR 8.40 crore.
The 29-year-old has impressed one and all with his line, length, and in-swingers. He has the ability to take wickets with his incredible ball control as well as the ability to extract swing from even 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.
Young Jacob Bethell is proving to be a serious player for England and has already represented his country in all three formats of the game.
Not just that, Bethell has already scored a century in all three formats as well. His recent exceptional knock in the T20 World Cup semi-final against India almost won England the game. Bethell has all the shots in the book, can improvise at will, and plays with an aggressive mindset, capable of playing both pace and spin quite well.
The 22-year-old’s entire T20 World Cup campaign was a great one. He scored over 280 runs at an average of 35 and a strike rate of 152.17. Bethell was also part of the title-winning RCB squad last season, but he only played two games before going away for national duty, making this almost a debut season for him.
Bethell has been in top form lately and also looks well adjusted to the Indian pitches. He could be one of the key overseas players and prove vital for the Royal Challengers’ title defence.
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 price tag of INR 14.2 crore. Playing for Rajasthan in the Ranji Trophy, the middle-order batter has taken well to the T20 format in the domestic circuit.
Sharma has played 12 domestic T20 games, scoring 334 runs at 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 by investing in the 19-year-old.
The teenager is known to be a big six-hitter, having been the joint-highest six-hitter in the first phase of the Vijay Hazare Trophy with 28 sixes, while also having registered the highest number of sixes in the previous Vijay Hazare Trophy. He had already trained with the CSK squad during the 2025 season, where he impressed them with his hard-hitting ability.
Sharma can dominate pacers and spinners with ease. It will be interesting to see whether the IPL witnesses another top Indian talent after the likes of Priyansh Arya, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, and Ayush Mhatre last year.
New Zealand opener Finn Allen will be playing for KKR this season. Allen is a hard-hitting, explosive batter who can take the game away from the opposition almost singlehandedly.
Though he hasn’t yet played in the IPL, Allen has participated in all the top leagues around the world, having performed superbly. For context, he has played 21 games in the Big Bash League, scoring 647 runs at an average of 30.80 and a stunning strike rate of 184.33. In T20Is, he has played 62 matches for New Zealand, scoring 1,663 runs at an average of 28.67 and a top strike rate of 170.73.
In the recently concluded T20 World Cup, the 26-year-old played a match-winning innings against title contenders South Africa in the semi-finals, scoring 100 off just 33 balls with ten fours and eight sixes and an outrageous strike rate of 303.
The Knight Riders surely have a selection headache on their hands, with Finn Allen one of the options to open the innings. If he gets going, he can dominate bowlers in the Powerplay and score big runs for his team at an astonishing strike rate.
South African all-rounder Marco Jansen has been in superb form lately. While he opens the bowling in the Powerplay, he can also completely change the game lower down the order with his powerful hitting.
Jansen was one of the standout players for the Proteas at the recent T20 World Cup. Although South Africa were knocked out in the semi-finals, Jansen still made a difference with a 27-ball 55* to take the team’s score to 169/8 after they were reeling at 77/5. He scored 268 runs in the tournament with a strike rate of 147.25 and took 13 wickets.
Playing for the Punjab Kings last year, Jansen helped his team 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, while also scoring some important runs lower down the order.
Jansen has really improved since his stint with PBKS last season. Now regarded as one of the most reliable all-rounders in world cricket, it wouldn’t be surprising if he helped the Kings reach another final this time around and, maybe, go all the way.
Sanju Samson is already an IPL superstar, though this season he will turn out in different colours and wear the famed yellow jersey of the Chennai Super Kings.
Having not been part of India’s starting XI at the start of the T20 World Cup, Samson came into the side amid Abhishek Sharma failing to fire at the top of the order, and what an impact he made! He played three big match-winning innings all the way to the final and ended up receiving the Player of the Tournament award, having scored 321 runs in five games at an average of 80.25 and a remarkable strike rate of 199.37. Samson also hit the most sixes in the tournament, with 24 to his name, and looked imperious and composed all through the knockout games.
The 31-year-old was a top performer for the Rajasthan Royals for several seasons. Now, set to play for a new team on the back of a purple patch in the World Cup, under the tutelage of MS Dhoni no less, Samson is set to have a fabulous tournament this time around.
The 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 all-rounder who bats left-handed and bowls left-arm off-spin. All-rounders are really popular in the shorter format given the versatility they bring to the table. Much like Kartik Sharma, Veer hasn’t had much domestic experience, having played only nine T20 games for Uttar Pradesh. However, he has impressed with both bat and ball in those games, having scored 112 runs at an average of 28 and a strike rate of 167.16, while, with the ball, he has taken 12 wickets at an average of 16.66 and an incredible economy rate of 6.45.
For the amount of money CSK have invested in him, Veer is definitely set to feature in a number of games in this year’s IPL. India is known to produce top spin bowlers, but having one who is also a handy batter is highly advantageous.
In his debut season, playing against the top, most destructive batters in the world, it will be quite fascinating to see a young left-arm spinner weave his magic. Prashant Veer will definitely be under a lot of scrutiny due to the big-money move, with the Super Kings hoping he helps them turn around their fortunes.
Ashok Sharma is another young uncapped Indian player joining the IPL this season. The 23-year-old represents the state of Rajasthan in the domestic circuit and has served as a net bowler for RR. After KKR picked him up in the last mega auction, he didn’t get much of a look-in and was picked up by the Gujarat Titans ahead of the 2026 IPL season.
Sharma has performed exceptionally well in the domestic T20 tournaments, having picked up 22 wickets in ten outings with an impressive average of 15.63, a decent economy rate of 9.25, and best figures of 4/16.
With the GT coaching staff always looking to promote Indian talent, Sharma, who is coming into this IPL season in good nick, could have his moment in the sun. He is another up-and-coming fast bowler who can consistently bowl at over 140 kmph, and judging by his numbers, he also has the uncanny ability to take wickets with his pace and variations.
Although he didn’t cost much, Ashok Sharma is yet another uncapped player coming into this season with a lot of expectations and limelight.
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