SRH, CSK hopes hinge on fearless youngsters

Experts Cheteshwar Pujara and Mark Boucher highlighted how breakout stars like Abhishek Sharma, Rasikh Salam Dar, and Urvil Patel are defining the business end of the tournament for SRH, RCB, and CSK.

Hyderabad: Among the standout youngsters are Abhishek Sharma, who has been instrumental for Sunrisers Hyderabad with his explosive batting, and Urvil Patel, whose blistering knock against Lucknow Super Giants reignited Chennai Super Kings’ campaign. CSK pacer Anshul Kamboj has also emerged as a key wicket-taker, while Sakib Hussain has added balance to SRH’s bowling attack. For Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Rasikh Salam Dar has impressed as an effective third seamer.

Pujara praised CSK’s young brigade for delivering in crunch moments, while Boucher highlighted the fearless approach and composure shown by Abhishek, Sakib and Rasikh during the business end of the tournament.

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With eight teams still in contention for four playoff spots, the race to the TATA IPL 2026 playoffs remains wide open.

Rasikh Dar has seamlessly slotted into Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s pace attack this season. The skiddy pacer announced himself with a four-wicket haul against Lucknow Super Giants at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in just his second game of the season and complemented veterans Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood superbly at the death. More than just a bowler, Rasikh, who has a highest first-class score of 45*, is also a capable lower-order batter and showed impressive composure during RCB’s thrilling chase against Mumbai Indians.

Speaking on JioStar, JioStar experts Cheteshwar Pujara and Mark Boucher highlighted the reasons why ‘fearless prodigies’ will be key for CSK, SRH and RCB in the Race to Playoffs in TATA IPL 2026:

Cheteshwar Pujara: “What Urvil Patel did against LSG shows what the new crop of players can do on their day. Anshul Kamboj has also been a massive part of CSK’s revival over the last couple of weeks. Even Kartik Sharma at No. 4 has grown in stature, while those two sixes from Prashant Veer at the end showed the confidence this young group is playing with. CSK now have a bunch of ‘fearless prodigies’ who seem to be getting things right in crunch moments and they will rely heavily on them as they look to displace one of the current top four teams.”

Mark Boucher: “Abhishek Sharma has led Sunrisers Hyderabad’s fearless approach this season. He has taken the responsibility of being consistently destructive for his side. On the other hand, Sakib Hussain has impressed with the ball through his clever changes of pace and unorthodox action, becoming a reliable option at the death. It’s very similar to what Rasikh Salam Dar has done for RCB as the third seamer, and both youngsters could prove vital as their teams look to hold on to top two spots.”