The current India U19 side has some fine talents out of which some have already stolen the spotlight in the likes of Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Ayush Mhatre with their heroics in IPL and India colours.
Now, there’s another talent from the India U19 batch, who can also be targeting a lucrative IPL contract after impressing in the recent tour of Australia.
Fast bowler Deepesh Devendran was a revelation with the new ball against Australia U19 and played a key role in India securing a whitewash Down Under.
The 17-year-old impressed during the first Test, taking a match haul of eight wickets including a fifer in the first Aussie innings. The Tamil Nadu fast bowler next took two more wickets in the second and final Test to finish as the top wicket-taker in the series with 10 scalps from four innings at an outstanding average of 9.80.
Prior to that he played in one ODI against the AUS 19 side and although he did not pick up wickets, he gave just 18 runs in his five overs while troubling the batters.
Devendran can already clock speeds north of 130s and can make the ball talk with his accuracy over line and length, making him a difficult bowler to come up against. He is deceptively quick and has got a 11 o’clock release, which is considered a strong position for generating a powerful hook, and continue to cause issues for batters.
Before Australia, Devendran was also part of the England U19 tour earlier in July and played across both red-ball and white-ball formats.
The youngster has shown a solid improvement arc since missing the cut for the U19 Asia Cup last year where he was a standby player and his recent exploits can now also put him on the radar of IPL teams.
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A good new-ball bowler is an asset in a competitive league like the IPL who can set the tone for the game. Also, given that franchises are now turning to youngsters and are not afraid to hand them debuts and put them in the middle of the action, Deepesh’s performance in Australia can make him a hot commodity at the IPL 2026 auction later this year.
Rajasthan Royals (RR) handed Vaibhav Suryavanshi a debut while Chennai Super Kings (CSK) turned to Ayush Mhatre and other youngsters after their experienced batters failed. Mumbai Indians (MI) too showed trust in young pacers like Ashwani Kumar and Satyanarayan Raju in a growing trend to promote promising talents.
Deepesh can hit the deck hard and generate pace and bounce, which will be useful on Indian pitches. Teams such as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), RR have struggled in their fast bowling department and might look to acquire a new talent in the India U19 star with a goal for the future. Furthermore, he is extremely handy with the willow and can hit the big shots, offering batting depth as well which makes him an even more exciting prospect.
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