At 16 years and 157 days, Prayas Ray Barman became the youngest player to make his Indian Premier League debut when Virat Kohli picked the leg break bowler in the Royal Challengers Bangalore playing XI against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday.
The earlier record for the youngest player in IPL was held by Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman, who was 17 years and 11 days old when he played for Kings XI Punjab in IPL 2018.
Barman had first hit headlines when he was picked up at the IPL auction in December for a whopping Rs 1.5 crore, which was 7.5 times over his base price. At the time he was Bengal’s top wicket-taker in his debut season in the Vijay Hazare Trophy
With a tall 6’1 inch frame, Prayas is not a big spinner of the ball but loves to be quick in the air and accurate. The teen himself is a fan of Aussie great Shane Warne, said.
Hailing from Durgapur, Barman grew up in New Delhi where his father Dr Kaushik Ray Barman, a general physician, works. His initial journey began at the Ram Pal Cricket Academy in Gargi College in South Delhi.
But his growth as a cricketer happened at his native place where he joined Durgapur Cricket Centre under Shibnath Ray and caught the attention in the Ambar Roy Sub-Junior Under-14 cricket tournament.
Picked for Bengal U-16, he shifted his base to Kolkata where he lives in a small flat with his grandparents near Dumdum Park in northern fringes of the city.
Now, he is the toast of the IPL being backed by the national captain Kohli, the teen’s idol.
It was baptism by fire for the debutant on Sunday, however. The teen from Bengal was on the dot in his first over, giving away only six runs at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. But the brutal batting of Jonny Bairstow and David Warner was too much to handle for him ultimately, as he finished with 56/0 in his four overs.
With inputs from PTI
