Baba Aparajith

A handy off-spinner and a very reliable catcher, Baba Aparajith possesses the ability to hit the cricket ball hard and long and has shown the attitude and aptitude for big matches. A technically correct batsman, Aparajith relishes the cover drive and pull stroke. 

Aparajith is a by-product of age-group cricket in Tamil Nadu, before making his FC debut in 2011-12. However, he burst onto the scene, after producing man-of-the-match winning performances in the quarter-final and semi-final of the 2012 Under-19 World Cup. He played a pivotal role in India Under-19s' title triumph, scoring 171 runs and taking five wickets. 

After the Junior World Cup, the youngster was inducted into the Chennai Super Kings squad in IPL 2013 and was also part of the Rising Pune Supergiants squad, but had not been picked to play a single match in the Indian Premier League.

Despite all that, Aparajith has had his moments, from making his first career double-hundred in 2013; to be the leading run-scorer for Tamil Nadu in the 2017-18 Ranji Trophy; to tallying 598 runs and backing it with 217 in only five matches in 2020-21. Although inconsistency has been a regular occurrence in Aparajith’s career as the talent has never been translated into runs.

After being dropped from the India A set-up in 2017, Aparajith went downhill in the pecking order. In no time, he almost disappeared from the national radar, not even finding a place in the Duleep Trophy teams.

Finally, in November 2021, the talented batter received another call-up when added to the India 'A' squad for the series against South Africa A, after a standout domestic season.

(As of November 2021)