After each and every IPL auction, the cricket fraternity has unknown players become overnight crorepatis or millionaires. Over the past decade in the lucrative Indian Premier League, we have seen several unknown young players realising their dreams on auction day as all the eight franchises battle out among each other during the bidding war.

The recently-concluded mega IPL auction 2020 in Kolkata witnessed quite a few notable signings. However, the auction also saw some unpredictable deals. Such players, who are relatively unknown at the international level, can emerge as top-performers in the upcoming season due to their unpredictability.

Let’s take a look at the five unknown players who got bids in the auction:

1. Digvijay Deshmukh

The 21-year-old all-rounder Digvijay Deshmukh set his base price at 20 lakhs ahead of the IPL auction and he was sold to four-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians for the same amount. The uncapped player will be looking forward to making his presence count on the pitch by adding a new dimension to batting and bowling attack.

Digvijay Deshmukh made his Twenty20 debut for Maharashtra in the 2019–20 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy tournament. After that, he made his first-class debut for Maharashtra in the 2019–20 Ranji Trophy.

Besides playing cricket, he made his appearance in Bollywood film ‘Kai Po Che’ in the year 2013. He portrayed the role of 14-year-old Ali Hashmi, a child cricketer, around whom the plot of Sushant Singh, Rajkumar Rao, Amit Sadh-starrer movie revolved.

He has played one first-class match in his career where he picked six wickets in two innings and registered his best bowling figures of 4/46. He has also played seven T20 matches and has picked 7 wickets to his name. His career-best bowling figures in this format is 3/34.

2. Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore

Among all other franchises at the marquee auction, Chennai Super Kings was the only franchise that signed four players in their brigade. Among them, the 23-year-old uncapped bowler Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore was the only unknown player who got bid from CSK.

He has showcased his mettle at Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) as he ended up as the leading wicket-taker in the tournament. The young pacer made his List A debut for his state in the 2016–17 Vijay Hazare Trophy on 12 March 2017. He then made his first-class debut for Tamil Nadu in the 2017–18 Ranji Trophy on 14 October 2017.

Tamil Nadu spinner then made his Twenty20 debut for his state in the 2017–18 Zonal T20 League on 8 January 2018. He hit the peak performance in the 2018–19 Ranji Trophy when he ended up as the leading wicket-taker accounting for 22 scalps in 6 games. He has been statistically pretty good in numbers as far as the shorter format is concerned. He has by far played 22 games and picked 25 wickets, registering a record bowling figures of 4/6.

It is worth mentioning that Sai Kishore was used as a net bowler for CSK earlier this year. He spent some quality time there and learnt the much-needed basics. His productive spell helped him develop gradually as a better cricketer. The left-arm spinner also showcased his mettle in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy tournament, where he picked 12 wickets in 6 games at an impressive economy rate of 3.86.

Anuj Rawat

The 20-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman from Delhi stole the spotlight at the IPL auction after he was sold to Rajasthan Royals for INR 80 lakhs. Anuj Rawat set his base price at INR 20 lakhs and little did he know that he would be an expensive signing as a wicket-keeper.

Anuj made his first-class debut for Delhi in the 2017–18 Ranji Trophy tournament on 6 October 2017. After that he made his Twenty20 debut for Delhi in the 2018–19 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy on 21 February 2019. He also made his List A debut on 4 October 2019, for Delhi in the 2019–20 Vijay Hazare Trophy

The wicketkeeper-batsman has played 13 matches and has scored 659 runs in his first-class career. He has scored three fifties and a hundred to his name, registering his career-best score of 134. In List A cricket, he has scored 250 runs overall including three fifties. As far as T20 format is concerned, he has played 11 innings and essayed 235 runs. He has scored just one fifty so far and his career-best score in this format is 88*.

Kartik Tyagi

Kartik Tyagi made his first-class appearance for Uttar Pradesh in the 2017–18 Ranji Trophy on 6 October 2017. He went on to make debut in List A cricket for Uttar Pradesh in the 2017–18 Vijay Hazare Trophy on 5 February 2018. In December 2019, he was listed in India’s squad for the 2020 Under-19 Cricket World Cup

The right-arm medium-fast bowler has played only one match and has taken three wickets in 2 innings, He registered his career-best bowling figures of 2/15. He has played 5 matches in List A cricket and has taken 9 wickets to his subtle bowling variations of good line and length with best bowling figures of 3/29.

The 19-year-old prospect set his base price at INR 20 lakhs ahead of the auction and the young bowler was roped in by Rajasthan Royals for INR 1.3 crore.

Ravi Bishnoi

Here’s another young bowler who attracted big at the mega IPL auction. The 19-year-old uncapped leg-spinner who set his base price at INR 20 lakhs was sold to Kings XI Punjab for a whopping INR 2 crore.

Ravi Bishnoi made his Twenty20 debut for Rajasthan in the 2018–19 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy on 21 February 2019 and then made his List A debut on 27 September 2019, for Rajasthan team in the 2019–20 Vijay Hazare Trophy tournament.

In the wake of stellar performance, he was named in India A’s squad in the 2019–20 Deodhar Trophy in October 2019. In December 2019, he was named in Team India’s squad for the 2020 Under-19 Cricket World Cup. He has played six List A games and has taken eight wickets with best bowling figures of 3/49. Coming to the T20 format, he has played six games and has taken six wickets with best bowling figures of 2/20.