অঙ্কিত রাজপুত

A hit-the-deck fast medium bowler, hailing from Uttar Pradesh, Ankit Rajpoot made his mark in his debut domestic season when he emerged as the second highest wicket taker of his team in 2012-13. The lack of good Indian pacers for the Chennai Super Kings saw the franchise signing him up for the next season. However, after playing a handful of games, he was replaced by Mohit Sharma who eventually cemented his spot in the side. The following seasons saw him struggling in the domestic circuit as well.

The 2016 Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy came as a lifeline for Ankit who emerged as the third highest wicket-taker in the tournament and consequently landed an IPL contract with the Kolkata Knight Riders for the next two years. Rajpoot's ability to be deceptively quicker off the pitch makes him a handy customer and he also has the variations in his bag. All this makes him a tough customer to score off. His domestic career hasn't taken off the way he would have liked to but there's ample time to turn things around. The 2018 IPL auctions saw him being signed up by the Kings XI Punjab.

IPL - Through the years

Ankit Rajpoot was picked by Chennai Super Kings in 2013 on the back of impressive performances in the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament. A 20-year-old lanky pacer, on debut, dismissed Ricky Ponting with a short ball. However, that was his only wicket that year as he took part in just one more match. His next IPL appearance came only in 2016, when Kolkata Knight Riders roped him for two years. He played only a handful of matches for in those two years. The 2018 IPL auctions saw him being signed up by the Kings XI Punjab. He bagged a fifer against Sunrisers Hyderabad - 5/14 - and that’s the best bowling figures by an uncapped player in IPL. Barring that and another Man of the Match award winning performance against Delhi, Rajpoot was on the expensive side. Eventually, after an average 2019 season, KXIP released him and Rajpoot found himself being roped in by the Royals at the 2020 auctions.

By Hariprasad Sadanandan