Ankit Rajpoot

A right-arm pacer hailing from Kanpur, who was picked as the net bowler for India’s recent Test series against England has always been persistent for his side.

Ankit Rajpoot made his first-class debut playing for Uttar Pradesh during the 2012-13 Ranji Trophy and emerged as the pick of the bowlers, scalping 31 wickets in 7 matches.

After an impressive arrival onto the scene, he caught the eye of CSK’s coach Stephen Fleming and was bought by the franchise in IPL 2013 auction. The youngster made an instant bump as he picked up the massive scalp of Mumbai Indian’s skipper Ricky Pointing in his debut match and ended the match with the figures of 1/25. 

But, the Kanpur-born soon lost his emergence to Mohit Sharma as the season progressed and was knocked out  of the playing XI for the rest of the season. The following season he was released by CSK and his struggles accompanied him to domestic cricket where he wasn’t picked in the starting XI for Uttar Pradesh as well. 

Rajpoot made an impressive comeback in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in 2015-16 when Uttar Pradesh won their maiden title. His inspiring bounceback led him to another IPL contract in 2016 where KKR got his services for 2 seasons. Rajpoot’s life-changing moment came when KXIP led by the legend Virender Sehwag bought him for a whopping 3 crores in the 2018 IPL auction. The massive price-tag pressure encouraged him to perform at the highest level and he didn’t disappoint. In 2018, Rajpoot picked up a five-wicket haul against SRH and ended up with 11 wickets in 8 matches.

 For the 2020 season, Ankit Rajpoot was traded by KXIP in return for Krishnappa Gowtham by the Rajasthan Royals and retained his services for 2021. Still being comparatively young and highly rated by former Indian pacer Venkatesh Prasad, Rajpoot’s dream of playing red-ball cricket in national colors might come true in the coming years.

(As of March 2021)