From Padikkal to Natarajan: Lesser known players who made it big in IPL 2020

The RCB opener justified his place amongst the big shots in RCB – finishing as his side’s top run-scorer with an impressive 473 runs to his name from 15 matches with five half-centuries. His runs came at an average of 31.54 with a strike-rate of 124.80 against the new ball. The fact that he outscored skipper Virat Kohli and the seasoned AB de Villiers is an ode to his sheer consistency.

RCB, who had lacked a stable opening pair in the past few seasons, finally found a dependable opening stalwart in the form of Padikkal, who provided several solid starts to the Virat Kohli-led side. RCB’s purchase of Padikkal for his base price of Rs 20 Lakhs is likely to go down as one of the biggest bargains in IPL history. (Image Credits: Twitter/@IPL)

KKR's spinner Varun Chakravarthy justified his label of being a mystery spinner as he wreaked havoc in the middle overs against the opposition. He was KKR's go to bowler whenever they needed a wicket while also curbing the run-rate.

He racked up 17 wickets from just 13 games at a miserly economy rate of 6.84. This also included a five-wicket haul (5-20) against Delhi Capitals which was one of the spells of the tournament.

(Image Credits: Twitter/@IPL)

With coach Anil Kumble to guide him, KXIP leg-spinner caught the eye of the fans with his brilliant show in the tournament. 

The 20-year-old showed tremendous maturity in the middle and never shied away from taking on the batsmen and became KXIP's lethal weapon on the slow conditions of the UAE. 

He grasped 12 wickets from 14 games at a decent economy rate of 7.37. (Image Credits: Twitter/@IPL)

Natarajan’s exploits with the ball in IPL 2020 was one of the highlights of SRH’s season with many calling him as one of the finds of the tournament. In 16 matches the Tamil Nadu pacer racked-up 16 wickets while bowling the toughest overs for his side.

The fact that he has an economy-rate of just 8.02 is an ode to his mastery of the death bowling craft and his Yorkers are now becoming infamous. Natarajan bowled the most number of Yorkers in IPL 2020 and leads the race by a long margin.

His performances were rewarded by the national selectors, who named him in India's T20I squad for their tour of Australia. (Image Credits: Twitter/@IPL)

Rahul Tewatia's story in his side's game against KXIP on September 27 was perhaps the story of the tournament. Chasing a mammoth 224 to win, Tewatia was struggling at 7 off 16 balls and it looked like he had put paid to his side's chances but then with sheer grit, he hit the menacing Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in the 18th over, powering his side home by 4 wickets. 

Tewatia rescued several matches for Rajasthan this season and became infamous for his nerves of steel and power-hitting. He scored 255 runs in IPL 2020.

If that was not enough, he also picked up 10 wickets with his leg-spin. (Image Credits: Twitter/@IPL)

After a horrific start to in his maiden IPL season, Ruturaj Gaikwad made stage his own in the latter stages. He had scored two ducks in his first two appearences and was dropped by CSK but was brought back in the second half of the competition. And this time he grasped his chance with both hands.

Gaikwad scored three consecutive half-centuries which powered CSK to three wins in their final three league games. Gaikwad finished with 204 runs from his 6 innings. (Image Credits: Twitter/@IPL)