Thampi, Rana, Tripathi are big gains of IPL-10
— It has easily been the biggest launchpad for talented cricketers but never has a single edition of the Indian Premier League thrown up a minefield of local talent like the one concluded on Sunday.
The stories of ‘one season wonders’ like Swapnil Asnodkar, Manpreet Gony and Paul Valthaty is well documented but a close analysis of the 10th edition would reveal that a handful of players have emerged, which would only make the bench strength of Indian team solid in coming years.
Three such cricketers would be fast bowler Basil Thampi from Kerala, Delhi left-hander Nitish Rana and unheralded Maharashtra boy Rahul Tripathi.
The trio made the big stage their own, showed admirable technique but above everything else displayed temperament — the main ingredient to survive at the highest level in any sport.
The man who has grabbed attention of one and all is young paceman Thampi. There are times when statistics will never tell you the whole story. Thampi’s performance is a case in point where his special talent as a limited overs fast bowler came to the fore. — PTI