Jake Lehmann

From a very young age, Jake Lehmann has been raved about and it's not because he is the son of former Australian cricketer Darren Lehmann. Like his father, Jake is also a left-handed batsman who has the penchant to strike the ball clean. He can also play the long innings, as proved by his maiden First-class century which he converted into a double ton during the fag end of 2015. The BBL that followed saw him make a starry impact for the Adelaide Strikers as he nervelessly sealed a last-ball win for his side. With four required, the young Lehmann held his nerve in what was his first-ever T20 innings and smoked a maximum to take the Strikers across the line.

The 2015-16 Sheffield Shield season has been Jake's best phase so far and actually the period when he started translating his obvious talent into telling performances with the bat. Just like his batting, Jake has also inherited his father's utlity left-arm spin albeit not with the same effectiveness yet. However, he does appear to be an exciting package with his multiple skills and fabulous ability as a fielder. Darren Lehmann has often went on record to say that he doesn't promote his son's name in selection discussions and that means that Jake would have to earn his national call up and rightly so. Jake has had a moderately successful year in 2017 in the domestic circuit but will want to raise his bar further up, especially with his father's strict orders from the top level.

By Hariprasad Sadanandan