Kumar Kartikeya

His break came through Sanjay Bharadwaj, a coach whose former pupils include Gautam Gambhir, Amit Mishra and Nitish Rana. Kartikeya arrived without means, but Bharadwaj liked what he saw and arranged for him to train at his Delhi academy without asking much in return. The young spinner rewarded that support with strong showings in local competitions. Openings beyond that level were scarce, so he was encouraged to try his luck in Madhya Pradesh. It was there, in 2018 and aged 23, that he played his first first-class match.

With finger spin, he quickly became a productive bowler for his adopted state. Then, a few months ahead of IPL 2022 and at Bharadwaj's urging, he set about learning wrist spin for white-ball cricket. He spent long hours in the nets and studied YouTube clips to work out the grips and variations on his own. The effort paid off when Mumbai Indians signed him to replace Arshad Khan. On his debut he removed Sanju Samson, and his contribution helped the franchise end a run of eight straight defeats.

The red-ball season that followed brought perhaps his finest moment. Madhya Pradesh won the Ranji Trophy for the first time in 2022, and Kartikeya was central to the triumph, finishing as the side's top wicket-taker with 32 scalps at an average of 21. He kept up that standard afterwards, collecting more than 30 wickets in each of the following two Ranji Trophy campaigns.