Every season we see a plethora of young talent make a name for themselves in the toughest T20 league in the world. This season, too, we were blessed to witness some of the most exciting young players on show with the likes of young Vaibhav Suryanshi and co taking the Indian Premier League and the country by storm.
In this article, we take a look at the top five emerging players from the 2025 season.
#5 Vipraj Nigam (DC)
Mts: 14 | Runs: 142 | Wkts: 11 | S/R: 179.75 | Eco: 9.13
Hailing from Delhi, the 20-year-old was still 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 in the UPT20 League.
Vipraj Nigam has definitely left his mark this season with some quality performances both with bat and ball. Batting at #8, the leggy flaunted his explosive power-hitting prowess in his debut match against the Lucknow Super Giants, scoring 39 off 15 in a match which the Delhi Capitals won by a wicket in the end.
He continued to chip in with decent cameos whenever needed, while in what was a disappointing campaign for skipper Axar Patel with the ball, the 20-year-old Vipraj Nigam stepped up as the second lead spinner alongside Kuldeep Yadav for DC. He ended his debut campaign with 11 wickets at an economy rate of 9.13, which is acceptable considering he played half of his games in the small Arun Jaitley Stadium.
#4 Digvesh Singh Rathi (LSG)
Mts: 13 | Wkts: 14 | Eco: 8.25
Despite his aggression and provocative celebration drawing a lot of attention and criticism from a lot of sections including ex-pros, one thing nobody can deny is that he’s been one of the finds of this season for the Lucknow Super Giants.
Bought at a base price of ?30 lakh, Rathi was the standout LSG bowler throughout the campaign, and only missed one game following one-match suspension after a heated altercation with Abhishek Sharma in their match against the SunRisers Hyderabad.
Taking 14 wickets and going at 8.25 in your debut season is an incredibly underrated feat by the 25-year-old. Had there been a little more support for their mystery bowler, LSG might have just gotten themselves over the line in the playoffs race, but it wasn’t meant to be. However, looking ahead to next season, they have a bowler in Rathi around whom they can now build their bowling attack for next season.
#3 Vaibhav Suryavanshi (RR)
Mts: 7 | Runs: 252 | S/R: 206.56
Sanju Samson’s injury came as a blessing in disguise for the RR management who – after their dismal performances throughout the season – can only take one positive – unearthing a gem like Vaibhav Suryavanshi this season.
This young 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, however, the best was yet to come when he scored a breathtaking 101 off 38 against the Gujarat Titans in Match 47. He broke many records and carried on his destructive work till the end of the season.
However, despite his brilliant knocks there are glaring weaknesses in his game as well, which is expected from a 14-year-old. That being said, his emergence has also allowed skipper Sanju Samson to slot into the #3 role after his injury, something they can actually build on for next season given how gravely they missed Jos Buttler’s presence at the top of the order this season.
#2 Ayush Mhatre (CSK)
Mts: 7 | Runs: 240 | S/R: 188.98
The Chennai Super Kings had a lot of faith in their Kiwi openers, however, when they both failed miserably, so too did Rahul Tripathi and youngster Sheikh Rasheed, not to forget captain Ruturaj Gaikwad pulling out of the tournament after four or five games due to hairline fracture to the elbow, the CSK management saw a glimmer of hope in the form of the 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. The CSK management gave him his debut against the Mumbai Indians at Wankhede, the very ground where he plays his first-class cricket. What followed for the next seven matches was an exhibition of his composure at the crease and willingness to play to the situation.
In seven matches, he 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 or explosive openers nowadays who usually don’t use their feet much, Mhatre is technically very strong and will only get better from hereon.
#1 Priyansh Arya (PBKS)
Mts: 17 | Runs: 475 | S/R: 179.25
At the time of the bidding, only DC, PBKS and RCB looked interested in the south paw with most teams unaware of his capabilities at the top of the order. In the end, it was the Punjab Kings who forked out ?3.8 crore to acquire his services for the next three seasons. Apart from the fact that he had hit six sixes in an over in the Delhi Premier League (DPL) and finished the tournament as the highest run getter (608 runs), no one knew much about him.
However, over the last three months, every cricket fan in India now knows who Priyansh Arya is. After making a quickfire 47 off 23 in his debut against the Gujarat Titans, failure against LSG followed by his first-ball dismissal against the searing pace of Jofra Archer cast some doubts whether the IPL was indeed a step up too high for him and the debut knock was just a flash in the pan.
However, a knockout of 103 off 42 deliveries against CSK in a match where none of the other top six batters scored in double digits, made the world take note of his immense batting prowess. His partnership with Prabhsimran Singh at the top was one of the catalysts to Punjab reaching their second ever IPL final, and their first since 2014.
Although they lost the final, the future looks bright for PBKS and Priyansh Arya.
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