Hyderabad: The fate of 332 cricketers will be decided in Kolkata on December 19 as they will be called out by the auctioneer at the IPL 2020 players' auction.
Apart from experienced players, there will also be some youngsters who will be on top of every team's must-buy list.
Here's a look at a few such youngsters who can trigger a bidding war in the auction.
1. Tom Banton (Base Price: Rs 1 crore)
Tom Banton was relatively an unknown name in the cricketing circuit until recently, however, his performances in England's domestic premier Twenty20 Cup caught the attention of all which handed him his maiden international call-up during the tour of New Zealand.
While playing in Vitality Blast this year, the 21-year-old Somerset opener smashed 549 runs at a strike rate of 161.47. He also hit 67 boundaries and 23 sixes which was the most in the competition and thus he would easily fit into the setups who are looking to buy players who can hit the ball at ease.
2. Yashaswi Jaiswal (Base Price: Rs 20 lakh)
The 17-year-old Mumbai star has been in an outstanding form at the domestic level where he scored 564 runs in six matches at 112.80 in Vijay Hazare Trophy with three hundreds and a fifty.
The left-handed opener smashed 25 sixes in the tournament and is also set to feature in India's Under-19 title defending campaign next year. Although Jaiswal has set himself a base price at INR 20 lakh, yet he is almost certain to be bought for much more than that.
3. Noor Ahmad (Base Price: Rs 30 lakh)
Noor Ahmad is a 14-year-old chinaman bowler from Afghanistan who has impressed all in the recent past.
In seven Youth ODIs, Ahmad has taken 15 wickets at an average of 15.33 and has an economy of 3.97. Meanwhile, in T20 cricket, the teenager has eight wickets from seven games with an economy of 6.48. Teams love left-arm wrist spinners, and Noor could be the next in line from Afghanistan to play in the IPL.
4. Virat Singh (Base Price: Rs 20 lakh)
Virat Singh is slowly making a name for himself as a reliable middle-order batsman in the domestic circuit. His performances in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and the recently concluded Deodhar Trophy are a proof of the same.
In the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy, the Jamshedpur born batsman amassed 343 runs at an average of 57.17 in 10 matches. Meanwhile, in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Virat enjoyed a strike rate of above 100 after scoring 335 runs in the tournament and in the Deodhar Trophy, the 21-year-old played a game-changing knock of 76 while batting alongside Axar Patel for India C against India B.
A number of teams are looking for useful middle-order batsman and Virat certainly fits the bill. Hence, Virat is expected to trigger a bidding war amongst many franchises.
5. Wanindu Hasaranga (Base Price: Rs 50 lakh)
Wanindu Hasaranga debuted for Sri Lanka in T20Is against New Zealand back in September and instantly made an impact by rattling the Kiwis without dropping much sweat. He then tangled Pakistan's batting lineup in their own den which eventually won him the Man of the Series award.
Hasaranga bowls leg-break and has picked up 34 wickets in 31 matches in T20s with a decent average of 18.41. Moreover, with a T20 strike-rate of 129.39, he can hit the long ball in the death overs. Thus, he can be a crucial spin bowling all-rounder for teams wanting a cheap yet effective spin bowler.
