The Good, The Bad and The UglyRating the performances of debutants in IPL 2023

By Rounaq SehrawatFrom the hard-hitting Cameron Green to young Indian bowler Rajvardhan Hangargekar, several international and domestic players made their debuts in the Indian Premier League. We take a look at their first outings in the tournament, and assess whether they lived up to their hype or not.

THE GOOD

Kyle Mayers

The West Indian all-rounder lit up the IPL on his debut for Lucknow Super Giants. Mayers opened the batting alongside captain KL Rahul, in Quinton de Kock’s absence. He scored 73 runs off 38 balls, while smashing two boundaries and seven sixes. His score against Delhi Capitals made him the fourth-highest scoring debutant in IPL history and helped LSG register a comfortable 50-run win.

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Rajvardhan Hangargekar

The right-arm fast-bowler had a debut to remember in Chennai Super Kings colours, picking up three wickets against defending champions Gujarat Titans. The 20-year-old dismissed Wriddhiman Saha, Sai Sudharshan and Vijay Shankar, while giving away 36 runs in his four overs. Hangargekar was part of the India U-19 team which won the World Cup last year, and was snapped by CSK for Rs 1.5 crore.

Reece Topley

The towering Englishman had an impressive IPL debut, cleaning up fellow debutant Cameron Green against Mumbai Indians. Topley was also exceptional while fielding, saving crucial runs for RCB. However, his dream debut came to a halt when he dislocated his shoulder and had to leave the field. Topley picked up a wicket and gave away 14 runs in two overs as RCB beat MI by 8 wickets.

Nehal Wadhera

The left-handed batter played a crucial knock for Mumbai Indians at a time where they were really under pressure. Walking in at 48/4, Wadhera stitched a vital partnership with Tilak Varma. Wadhera scored 22 runs in 13 balls, smashing Karn Sharma for back-to-back sixes, with the second one going for 101 meters, before being caught at long-on by Virat Kohli.

THE (NOT SO) BAD

Sikandar Raza

The Zimbabwean all-rounder made his debut in the IPL for Punjab Kings and had a decent outing. Raza scored 16 runs off 13 deliveries, while having the slowest strike rate of any PBKS batters against Kolkata Knight Riders. He did however, pick the wicket of KKR captain Nitish Rana, while giving away 25 runs in his three overs.

Joshua Little

Little became the first Irishman to feature in the IPL when he turned out for GT in the 2023 opener. However, Little’s debut wasn’t all smooth-sailing as he was hit for 41 runs in his four overs but did manage to knock the bails off Ambati Rayudu’s stumps.

Rahmanullah Gurbaz

The fiery Afghanistan opening batter got off to a good start against PBKS but couldn’t convert it into a big score. Gurbaz scored 22 runs off 16 balls and even smashed Sam Curran for a 101-meter six on the very second ball he faced. Interestingly, Gurbaz became the first Afghan to keep wickets in the IPL.

THE UGLY

Cameron Green

The hard-hitting Australian all-rounder had a debut to forget, misfiring with both bat and ball. Green was among the many Mumbai Indians batters that struggled against RCB, scoring just five runs off four deliveries. With the ball, Green did pick up the wicket of Dinesh Karthik but was smashed for 30 runs in just two overs, as MI succumbed to an eight-wicket defeat.

Harry Brook

Another big-money signing that came into the IPL with a lot of hype around him due to his recent performances for England. However, Brook had a torrid time against Rajasthan Royals, scoring 13 runs off 21 balls at a strike rate of 61.90. SunRisers Hyderabad shelled out Rs 13.25 crore to secure the services of the Englishman in the mini-auction.