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IPL-II: Star Hunt

Here is a look at the players who, despite being unknown to the world before the start of IPL 2009, hogged the limelight

Biswajit Jha
There are numerous cricket talents around the world, especially in India, who yearn to hog the limelight for their heroics. However, fame is seemingly reserved for a few lucky ones, playing for their respective countries in ODIs or Tests. With the emergence of Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2008, there has been paradigm shift. It has opened a new window of opportunity for some young hitherto unknown players to show their valour in a bigger league. Shaun Marsh, Ravindra Jadeja, Yusuf Pathan, Manpreet Gony, Ashok Dinda would not have achieved international fame without the lucrative league that, some say, has changed the face of cricket forever. These unknown first class cricketers are not only rubbing shoulders with the best, but are also among the most sought-after now. The second edition of IPL that took place in South Africa also dished out some exciting young players. Here is a look at the players who, despite being unknown to the world before the start of IPL 2009, hogged the limelight: Manish Pandey: Manish Pandey took everybody by surprise when he slammed an unbeaten ton against Deccan Chargers in the do-or-die match for his team. Playing his first match of the IPL-II, Pandey, who was released by Mumbai Indians this year, played one of the most memorable innings in IPL-2 and etched his name in the history of IPL by becoming the first Indian to hit a century. He followed it with an important knock of 48 in the semi-final to help his team chase down Chennai’s total. A member of victorious Under-19 World Cup team, Pandey is not a slam-bang batsman, but is elegantly destructive, a trait which is common among the peers of his generation, as he showed that evening. Manish, who initially wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps by joining the Indian Army, is no doubt the biggest success story among the rookies of IPL 2009.Shadab Jakati: A little known left-arm spinner before IPL 2009, Shabad Jakati’s rise in the IPL is on the lines of MS Gony, who stormed into the IPL scene last year while playing for Chennai Super Kings. A player from the not so well rated Goa Ranji side, Jakati came into the prominence with a four-wicket burst against Delhi Daredevils in a league match that left the potential champions tottering. He followed it with some brilliant performances in the league matches. In the 9 matches he played in this year’s IPL, he claimed 13 wickets at a better strike rate than the champion spinner of his side, Muralitharan. A bowler with an immaculate line and length, he never hesitates to flight the ball even in the shortest format of the game. His performance has once again proved that, to do well in cricket, you don’t have to reside in the big cities.Roelof van der Merwe: An ideal T20 player with all-round skills, South African Roelof van der Merwe’s performance played a key role in the transformation of Royal Challengers Bangalore this time in the IPL. Van der Merwe attracted the attention of the cricketing world by being presented the Man of the Match award in his first T20 International against Australia, where he scored a quickfire 48, along with claimed one wicket. An ideal T20 spinner, who has the capacity to keep a tight noose around the batsmen, Van der Merwe can hit the ball with his willow which makes him a deadly player in the abbreviate formats of the match. Besides contributing with the bat in the crunch situations, he picked up 9 wickets in the 10 matches he played for runners-up Royals Challenger Bangalore.Naman Ojha: Wicketkeeper-batsman Naman Ojha, who scored plenty of runs in the domestic circuit while playing for the mediocre Madhya Pradesh outfit, came into the limelight with some lusty hits, both against pace and spin in the league match against Kings XI Punjab while playing for Rajasthan Royals. His 68 included 5 huge sixes and an equal number of fours. He, along with South African captain Graeme Smith, posted a huge 135-run partnership in 14.5 overs to almost take the game away from Punjab. A young man from Indore, Ojha showed plenty of character in the IPL-II. Though he has scored aplenty in the domestic circuit, IPL has proved to be a completely new arena for him. There are not many people who know that he was first sent back home before the start of the second season, only to be brought back midway through the event. A fighter to the core, Naman did not lose his heart even when he failed in his debut match against Delhi Daredevils, scoring a golden duck. Any other captain might have dropped the rookie after that match. But Warne saw in him a champion match-winner, and the seeds of his wisdom germinated in the very next match, when, coming as an opener, Ojha surprised one and all by smashing 68 against Kings XI Punjab. He provided an encore with another fifty in the next match to steer his team to victory over Bangalore Royal Challengers. His glove-work behind the wicket was also superb throughout the tournament.Dirk Nannes: It’s not easy to keep Glen McGrath out of any cricket squad. However, Victoria left-arm paceman Dirk Nannes exactly did that. The son of Dutch migrant parents, Dirk Nannes is really a curious case as he was a World Cup skier and a self-proclaimed ‘accidental cricketer’. When he was not selected in the Australian T20 team for World T20 Championships, he declared that he would play for Netherlands in the upcoming T20 World Cup. This made him the first Dutch player to play in the IPL. Anything but a real quick bowler, Nannes can speak Japanese, studied the saxophone at university and runs a successful ski-travel company. So his entry into the IPL is another cap in his already eventful life. But most importantly, he did not disappoint Indian fans. A happy-go-lucky character, whom Daredevils captain Virender Sehwag described as the ‘fastest bowler he ever faced’, Nannes forged a deadly new-ball pair with Ashish Nehra and took 15 wickets in the event. He gave Delhi Daredevils important breakthroughs early in every match and his performance remained one of the reasons that Delhi, despite losing in the semis, was the most consistent IPL team this year. Yusuf Abdullah: A late edition to the Kings XI Punjab side, Yusuf Abdullah became a star with his accurate bowling in the absence of their two main strike bowlers- Brett Lee and S Sreesanth. He grabbed the chance with both hands and kept Kings in hunt for a semi-final berth despite having a woefully depleted bowling attack. The Durban born Indian origin player was a revelation in the opening stage of the tournament as he was the holder of the Purple Cap (for claiming highest wickets) for some time. Though he was sidelined after Sreesanth and Lee joined Kings XI, he impressed one and all with his bowling. In the 9 matches he played in the IPL-II he took 14 wickets.