Five young cricket stars who lit up the IPL 2024

Kolkata Knight Riders hammered Sunrisers Hyderabad by eight wickets to win the Indian Premier League for a third time.

AFP Sport looks at five youngsters who caught the eye during the Twenty20 tournament.

Jake Fraser-McGurk (Australia)

The Australian impressed in his debut IPL season with his fearless batting for Delhi Capitals, earning glowing praise from Ricky Ponting and Sourav Ganguly.

The 22-year-old opener came in as an injury replacement for bowler Lungi Ngidi and hammered 330 runs in nine matches at a punishing strike rate of over 234.

His explosive performances prompted Australia to include him in their squad as a travelling reserve for next month's T20 World Cup after he was not in their initial list.

Delhi head coach and former Australia captain Ponting earmarked Fraser-McGurk as "a serious talent". Ganguly predicted a bright future for the "game-changer", who has played two ODIs for Australia.

Abhishek Sharma (India)

The flamboyant left-hander, 23, was key to Hyderabad's run to the final.

He smashed 484 runs in 16 matches at a strike rate of over 200 and formed an attacking opening pair with Australia's Travis Head.

Abhishek also contributed with his left-arm spin when he took two wickets against Rajasthan Royals to take Hyderabad into their third IPL final.

"He is amazing, I wouldn't want to bowl against him. He's scary," skipper Pat Cummins said of the youngster after his knock of 66 helped Hyderabad into the play-offs.

Despite his displays Abhishek failed to make India's formidable World Cup squad.

Will Jacks (England)

The batting all-rounder rode on a strong season with Royal Challengers Bengaluru to take his place in the England squad for the World Cup.

His 41-ball 100 against Gujarat Titans in April highlighted his destructive ability and eclipsed even Virat Kohli during their partnership of 166.

Jacks reached his ton with a six and Kohli's reaction of awe and delight said it all. The former India captain later called the knock "phenomenal".

The 25-year-old finished with 230 runs in eight matches and was vital to Bengaluru as they made it to the play-offs.

Tristan Stubbs (South Africa)

The South African went to Delhi for a bargain $60,000 at auction but emerged as a top "finisher" in a season where his team came a disappointing sixth in the table.

The 23-year-old had a final-overs strike rate of 297.33, the highest in the IPL ever for a minimum of 100 runs.

"The way he is finishing games, it's like he's been doing it for 10 years," former Australia batsman Tom Moody purred.

It was a breakout IPL for Stubbs, who concluded the season with an unbeaten 25-ball 57 against Lucknow Super Giants.

Will hope to carry that form into the World Cup in the United States and Caribbean.

Matheesha Pathirana (Sri Lanka)

The 21-year-old fast bowler nicknamed "Baby Malinga" sparkled for Chennai Super Kings with his ability to choke runs in the final overs.

He took 13 wickets from six games before a hamstring injury cut short his IPL.

Chennai were left to rue his absence, losing to Bengaluru to miss out on the play-offs.

Has drawn comparisons to Sri Lankan bowling great Lasith Malinga because of his slinging action.

Also Read: T20WC 2024 Schedule & Squads

Pathirana has recovered from the injury and is expected to spearhead Sri Lanka's attack at the World Cup.