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If one of the best things about sport are the inspiring stories worthy of retellings, look no further than the Indian Premier League. Saturday, October 24 was a special day in IPL 2020. With the race for securing playoff spots getting intense in UAE, teams are under tremendous pressure. But how many teams will include a batsman in their playing XI when he has lost his father less than 24 hours ago? Kings XI Punjab backing Mandeep Singh to open the innings against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Dubai was a story—gritty and touching in equal measure—that only sport can throw up.

Sports’ healing touch was eloquently demonstrated by 28-year-old Mandeep, whose father lost his battle against liver cancer in Chandigarh the night before KXIP’s match against SRH. Mandeep’s ability to conquer personal tragedy reflected in his teammates’ performance, as Kings carved out a sensational 12-run victory. Two days later, against Kolkata Knight Riders in Sharjah, Mandeep struck a brilliant 50, helping KXIP to a fifth straight win. The Punjab batsman looked heavenwards and sent up a ‘thank you’. An appreciative Universe Boss Chris Gayle gave him an emotional hug.

Mandeep was praised by two of the world’s finest—Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli. They know about cricket amidst personal tragedy. Kohli was playing a Ranji Trophy match for Delhi when his father died in 2006. All of 18, Kohli, unbeaten on 40 overnight, returned to score a crucial 90 to save Delhi from a follow-on. During the 1999 Cricket World Cup in the UK, Tendulkar lost his father. He flew back to Mumbai and returned to resurrect India’s floundering campaign by scoring a brilliant century against Kenya at Bristol.

The IPL has also unearthed India’s large reservoir of talent. Tushar Deshpande was unknown till he made his IPL debut for Delhi Capitals against Rajasthan Royals. The 25-year-old pacer from Mumbai took 2 for 37 and won praise from Kagiso Rabada for the fire and confidence with which he bowled. “He is a good talent, that’s great news for Indian fast bowling,” said Rabada.

Behind the tournament’s habit of making heroes out of unk­nown players lies months-long hard work by the eight franc­hises. “Over the years, we’ve found und­­is­­covered and untapped talent, using IPL as a launchpad for their careers. Ravindra Jadeja, who played for us in the first IPL, is now an Indian stalwart. Ajinkya Rahane came to us and plays in all three formats for India. We’ve got huge Indian talent as part of our squad,” says Jake Lush McCrum, COO, Rajasthan Royals.

That the IPL has come to have a direct impact on India’s team selection was seen this week when three squads for the tour of Australia was picked. Varun Chakravarthy’s selection in the T20 squad can be attributed to his sensational five-wicket haul for KKR against a formidable DC. K.L. Rahul’s elevation to the vice captaincy was also a recognition to his leadership skills. “No captain is perfect,” said Sunil Gavaskar, perhaps hinting that India need to have back-ups to Virat Kohli.

Delhi Capitals CEO Dhiraj Malhotra also confirms the great toil, research and year-round scouting involved in finding a Deshpande or honing the skills of youngsters. “In our squad we’ve got Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant and Prithvi Shaw. They started their IPL careers with Delhi. Now they represent India across formats. So the thinking is to identify them young and provide them this platform,” says Malhotra.

Delhi banks on intelligence provided by its support staff. Former Indian wicket-keeper Vijay Dahiya tracks cricket tournaments around the world. “We’re constantly on the lookout to fill in gaps in the squad. The auction is a one-two day affair, but the strategy goes on through the year. Our coaches like Mohammad Kaif and our analysts also keep a close eye on everything happening in domestic cricket,” says Malhotra.

This is a standard operating procedure for most teams. Royals even have a laboratory of sorts, says McCrum. “Our Royals academy in Nagpur is almost like our innovation and development centre. So that is where we test our new technologies, work with players on all areas of their game, both physical and mental. This is how we prepare them for actual match situations,” says the Royals chief executive. Clearly, behind the stories, there is express design that eludes buffs. Not for nothing is IPL the world’s biggest cricket tournament. Its intensity, says Jonty Rhodes, compares with the Olympics.

Varun Chakravarthy

Destiny’s Child (Kolkata Knight Riders)

If faith can move a mountain, Varun Chakravarthy is living his dreams. Someone who switched to serious limited overs cricket as recently as 2018 to make a living, IPL has been a “surreal” experience for the 29-year-old from the temple town of Tha­n­javur. For someone who pursued a five-year degree course in architecture from SRM University in Chennai, it is expected that Chakravarthy would have a sense of geometry, a prerequisite for any sport. But life is not only about knowing the right angles, it is about getting lucky breaks too. The Kolkata Knight Riders spinner—his repertoire inc­ludes anything from traditional leg- and off-spin to a googly and a carom ball—has not only gra­b­bed headlines for a five-wicket haul that decimated a powerful Delhi Capitals batting line-up but made the India team for the three T20 internationals in Australia ahead of more accomplished competitors like Rahul Chahar (Mumbai Indians) or Ravi Bishnoi (KXIP).

Someone who is not afraid to give the ball some ‘air’, Chakravarthy has been quite a journeyman. A tennis ball cricketer, an age-group reject and someone who started life as a wicket-keeper batsman, he worked as a freelance architect to make a living. But it wasn’t enough. He returned to cricket, registering for a fourth division team in the Chennai League as a seam bowling all-rounder. An injury forced him to become a spinner. His 31 wickets in seven limited overs matches at an economy of 3.06 for Jubilee Cricket Club was a resounding endorsement of his skills. In the 2018 Tamil Nadu Premier League, he spun Madurai Panthers to their maiden title win. Chakravarthy was extre­mely economical during powerplays and slog overs. Selected for Tamil Nadu for the Vijay Hazare Trophy, he emerged the highest wicket-taker. The Ranji squad was a natural progression.

Chakravarthy was already being noticed by IPL scouts: he was invited to bowl at the CSK nets, before Dinesh Karthik welcomed him at KKR training sessions. Ravichandran Ashwin-led Kings XI Punjab gave him the first IPL break—a generous windfall that saw KXIP paying Rs 8.4 crores to snap him up at 42 times his base price of Rs 20 lakhs! But money never guarantees success; though Chakravarthy made money, he made a terrible IPL debut.

KXIP released their ‘expensive’ buy for the 2020 season. Chakravarthy went back to the auction pool and put a base price of Rs 30 lakh on himself. After a fierce bidding war, KKR beat RCB to buy Chakravarthy, whose popping eyes on the delivery stride reminds one of Muttiah Muralitharan, for  Rs 4 crores.

Having quit an architect’s career, Varun Chakravarthy took a gamble of sorts. After his spell of 4-0-20-5 against Delhi, Chakravarthy said it was his “faith” that made him believe in his abilities. Cricket has surely thrown a second chance his way.

—Soumitra Bose

Devdutt Padikkal

Under Virat’s Tutelage (Royal Challengers Bangalore)

Teams: India A, India Under-19s, Karnataka, Royal Challengers Bangalore

No need for hyperboles when there are solid numbers to back someone’s claim to fame, or their rising stocks. Imagine a nearly impossible situation: a 20-something playing his first IPL season and bossing a batting line-up that has Virat Kohli and A.B. de Villiers. That’s Devdutt Padikkal, the prodigious Royal Challengers Bangalore batsman who has already stirred up a storm in IPL 2020.

After a record-breaking domestic season, the 20-year-old has given the perennial underachievers plenty to smile with his scintillating batting. The left-handed opener became the first-ever player to score three half-centuries in his first IPL games. For the record, he also holds the unique record of scoring fifties on First-class, List A, T20 and IPL debut. That’s after piling up nearly 2,000 runs for Karnataka in the 2019-20 domestic season and scoring most runs in the title-­winning Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy campaign.    It’s no wonder that the Edappal-born is being hailed as a future Indian batting star. After moving from Kerala to Karnataka, Padikkal dominated domestic cricket, but fame and fortune came only after getting picked by RCB for his base price of Rs 20 lakh in 2019. He spent a season picking up new tricks from the best in the business.

There’s one interesting story about Padikkal’s tryst, if we may, with cricket. It’s rumoured that his parents, before Padikkal’s birth, had already decided upon cricket as a profession if their offspring was a boy. But then, every success story has a post-script of anecdotes. By the way, Padikkal has already been ‘adopted’ by Kohli as his mentee in the RCB set-up. That augurs well for the youngster. Don’t be surprised if the India colt is fast-tracked into the senior team.

—Jayanta Oinam

Thangarasu Natarajan

Yorker King (Sunrisers Hyderabad)

Teams: Kings XI Punjab, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Tamil Nadu

Everyone loves a good story, and if it happens to be about a village boy excelling in the hurly-­burly of the outside world, it takes on proportions of a blockbuster. That’s exactly what’s happening in IPL 2020 in the UAE, with Thangarasu Natarajan writing his own story. The 29-year-old now owns a cricket academy in his village in Tamil Nadu, where the left-arm pacer generously shares his spoils from the world’s best T20 league--the IPL. But that’s only a part of this story that pivots around cricket, a game his parents hardly know.

From a characteristically monochromatic world with limited access to opportunities that obtain from modern ways of life, the Sunrisers Hyderabad bowler is creating ripples on the field, and on social media, with his needle-sharp yorkers. Come November, he will share the same bubble with some of the greatest cricketers of his generation--Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, Jasprit Burmah, David Warner….as part of the Indian team in their tour of Australia.

Born in Chinnappampatti, a village on the outskirts of Salem, Natarajan established himself as pacer who could dart toe-crushing yorkers almost at will, even drawing comparison with masters of the craft like Bumrah and Lasith Malinga. But against global stars in a high-stakes tournament, even the most gifted crumble. Fortunately for Natarajan, IPL in the UAE is proving to be the perfect stage to showcase his talent.

He was picked by Kings XI Punjab for Rs 3 crore in 2017 after a stellar performance in the Tamil Nadu Premier League. But his IPL career ground to a halt after just six matches that season. He was released, and picked by the Hyderabad-based franchise, where he warmed the bench for the last two seasons. A new chapter began when he took the field against Royal Challengers Bangalore in Dubai on September 21.

—Jayanta Oinam

Arshdeep Singh

Nerves Of Steel (Kings XI Punjab)

Fourteen to defend in the last over. At stake: an IPL playoff berth. Few skippers will go for a greenhorn 21-year-old pacer. Yet K.L. Rahul had little qualm in handing the ball to lanky left-arm fast bowler Arshdeep. Result: Kings XI Punjab not only defended a paltry score of 126 against SRH but Arshdeep ended up with two wickets in the final over. Arshdeep form has been impressive this season with nine wickets so far. Standing 6’3’’, Arshdeep has a good bouncer and a slow delivery and can nail a yorker perfectly. He is now a regular in KXIP’s starting eleven. His father Darshan Singh catches every bit of the action from his home in Mohali. Darshan, once an avid cricketer himself, left his job with CISF (Central Industrial Sec­u­­rity Force) to avoid constant tra­nsfers and help Arshdeep concentrate on cricket. “His growth has been phenomenal. In the last few years, he has played the Under-19 World Cup, Ranji Trophy and now he is doing well in IPL,” his coach Jaswant Rai, former first-class cricketer, says. Arshdeep came to Rai’s academy in Chandigarh as a 14-year-old bustling with energy. “He had variations but no control,” says Rai, who worked with him just before this IPL too. The pacer did spot bowling and crossfit workouts to improve his pace; Rai att­r­ibutes Arshdeep’s ability to bowl variations as his main strength.

—Ashutosh Sharma

Rahul Tewatia

Brain And Brawn (Rajasthan Royals)

Many will doubt Rahul Tewatia at 27 making it big in the IPL. But what sets Tewatia apart is his sheer tenacity, knowing his limitations and then working around or with them to do the job. His IPL journey, which thrust him into spotlight this year, has taken him to Kings XI Punjab, Delhi Capitals and back to his debut side, Rajasthan Royals. A bits-and-pieces player, he has the audacity to believe in his ultimate ability. Someone who, after scoring only eight off 19 balls in a T20 chase can unleash five sixes (ask KXIP’s Sheldon Cottrell). His will to fight till the end has helped RR win twice—against Kings XI Punjab and Sunrisers Hyderabad.  Tewatia has scored 224 runs, averaging 44.80 and has taken seven wickets. He is rubbing shoulders with the likes of Jos Buttler, Steve Smith and Sanju Samson.

Hailing from a small village, Sihi, just outside Gurugram, Tewatia was born into a family of sportsmen—his grandfather Dharamveer Singh was a wrestler. As an eight-year-old, his father Krishan Pal took him to the Vijay Yadav cricket academy; it has been a steady progression since. He started as a leg-spinner, then topped up his batting skills, trying to break into a Haryana side which had likes of Amit Mishra and Yuzvendra Chahal.

—Ashutosh Sharma

The Other Bright Sparks

Priyam Garg 20, meerut Sunrisers Hyderabad

Batting lower down the order after stalwarts like David Warner, Johnny Bairstow, Manish Pandey and Kane Williamson, Garg has had to be content with few chances. His brightest spot is an unbeaten half-century against Chennai Super Kings in a winning cause. A brilliant fielder, Garg, who captained India in the U-19 World Cup, has done well to justify his Rs 1.9 crore price tag.

Ruturaj Gaikwad 23, Maharashtra, Chennai Super Kings

You will remember him from the spectacular crash that befell CSK against Mumbai Indians. His was the wicket—a first-ball duck—which started it all. Call it baptism by fire. Next game, against another quality RCB pace attack, Ruturaj found his feet and unleashed his full repertoire of strokes to notch up an unbeaten and match-winning 65.

Karthik Tyagi 19, UP, Rajasthan Royals

He is another talent unearthed in 2020 U-19 World Cup. From Uttar Pradesh, Tyagi was brought for Rs 1.3 crore and has been on the button for RR. Bowling at 140kmph-plus, he has hit the deck hard and can pitch in a perfect yorker. In eight matches he has taken seven wickets at an economy of 9.41.

Tushar Deshpande 25, Mumbai, Delhi Capitals

He went for a base price of Rs 20 lakh at auctions and was snapped up by Delhi Capitals. A good pacer, he has managed to hold his own in a side which features pacers like Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje. In his first four matches in IPL 2020, Deshpande has picked up three wickets and won praise from Rabada, one of the world’s leading pacemen.

Abdul Samad 18, J&K, Sunrisers Hyderabad

This big-hitting batsman has managed to hold his own despite all the uncertainty in his state. A leg-spinner, he was first noticed after a good domestic season. Mentored by Irfan Pathan, Samad is the fourth player from the state to enter the IPL. Coming lower down the order to bat, he has had a decent run, with a couple of 20s and a wicket from seven games.