Five young cricket stars who lit up the IPL 2024
A look at five youngsters who caught the eye during the Indian Premier League 2024 tournament.
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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.
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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.
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Pathirana has recovered from the injury and is expected to spearhead Sri Lanka's attack at the World Cup.